UBURU, Nigeria — David Umahi, Nigeria’s minister of works, said Mary Habila, a nurse who died in a guest house within his residential compound in Ebonyi State, had complained of a nosebleed during a telephone conversation with her boyfriend shortly before she stopped answering calls.
Speaking to journalists for the first time about the case on Thursday, July 16, 2026, Umahi called for an autopsy to establish the cause of Habila’s death and said he had asked that her remains not be released for burial until the examination was conducted.
Habila, who worked at the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences in Uburu, died on June 27 in a guest house at the minister’s residence in Umunaga, Uburu.
Umahi corrected reports identifying her as a physiotherapist, saying that she was a nurse who had worked with him for three years.
“The lady in question was like a daughter to me. She had stayed with me for three years. She was a staff of the Federal Medical University. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist,” Umahi said.
He said Habila and another female employee from Benue State were the only people staying in the guest house, which he described as separate from his private residence.
A Final Telephone Call
Umahi said Habila spoke with her boyfriend on the night before her death and told him that she was bleeding from the nose.
“She told the boyfriend she was bleeding from the nose. The boyfriend advised her to report it to her boss. She later told him the bleeding had stopped.
“He then said he would end the call so she could rest. She pleaded with him not to end the conversation, but he did. About three minutes later, he called back and she was no longer answering her phone,” the minister said.
According to Umahi, Habila’s colleagues tried unsuccessfully to contact her the following morning. They later forced open the door to her room and found her unresponsive.
“When they broke the door, they found her dead. The tap was still running. I think she wanted to have her bath,” he said.
Umahi said the door had been locked from inside and that he had no reason to suspect foul play.
Autopsy Request and Police Investigation
The minister said he had instructed his lawyers to seek an autopsy and was appealing to Habila’s parents to permit the procedure.
“We told our lawyer that an autopsy should be done. We are appealing to the parents to allow it. They said it is against their culture,” he said.
Umahi also said he had informed the inspector-general of police about the death and requested that the investigation be transferred to Abuja.
He disclosed that Habila had been treated for an unspecified medical condition at Turkish Hospital in Abuja and said his family had paid her medical expenses.
The most recent bill, which Umahi placed at about N2.2 million, was paid on April 5, he said.
He added that records of Habila’s treatment were available at the hospital.
Threat of Legal Action
Umahi accused unidentified people of attempting to turn the death into a political controversy and rejected suggestions that he should be held responsible because Habila died within the compound.
“What baffles me is that everything becomes politics in this country. Must the minister be held responsible because somebody died in a guest house under the Ministry of Works? Is that how it works?” he asked.
He said his lawyers had also been instructed to take action against people who circulated what he described as false claims about the case online.
“We are going to test the law on cyberbullying over this matter,” he said.
