By Adesina Soyooye
“If we have a hand in the killing (death of MaryHabila), it will follow our families and us. But if we don’t have a hand in it and you are jumping into it, be careful. Life is spiritual. Her last conversation was with her boyfriend minutes before she died”
For the first time, the Minister for Works, Dave Umahi, has, by himself, not by any aide, disclosed her relationship with Mary Habila and the circumstances which may have led to her sudden death.
And, what a revelation the Minister made.
Recall that Umahi has been roasted, almost, since the death of Ms. Habila in his Ubulu, Ebonyi State country home on June 27, 2026, after her arrival on June 26. Not a few people, including the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a number of Associations have asked that Umahi steps down from office, pending the outcome of investigations into her death.
But telling his story on Thursday, Umahi disclosed that Mary Habila was not a physiotherapist, but a Nurse who was seconded to the Ministry of Works from the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Ebonyi State,since the past three years. He revealed that she had had health issues which she had been managing, and which bills he had been picking because he took her as his daughter and so did all his family members.
Her last treatment and bill at the Turkish hospital Abuja, as recently as April, Umahi disclosed, was N2.2 million (Two Million, two hundred thousand Naira).
The Minister also disclosed that Mary had a boyfriend, and that her boyfriend was the last person she spoke to on the day she died.
He said before they left Lagos for Abuja, Mary had complained to her boyfriend that she was bleeding from the nose. Her boyfriend advised her to tell the Minister so that he could send her to the hospital, but she did not because she did not want to worry him.
Minutes before her death, Umahi said Mary was on the phone with her boyfriend and, again, complained that she was bleeding from the nose, but wanted to take her bath and lie down. Her boyfriend, said the Minister, asked her to stop talking so as not to aggravate the nose-bleeding, but she did not stop which made her boyfriend drop the phone. Minutes later when he called back to check on her, Mary did not take the call and he assumed he had gone to take her shower without knowing that death had come calling.
The Minister said that all these can be confirmed from her boyfriend and adked that call service providers pull her log and cross check her calls and last conversation with her boyfriend.
Umahi said he was not in the same house with Mary, and emphasized that she and others were in the staff quarters.
Mourning Mary, Umahi said he was devastated by her death not just because she was a very good, hardworking staff, but because she was like his daughter. He reminded those circulating fake news that life is spiritual and warned them to be careful of the type of stories they tell about the dead.
As for himself and how his name has been dragged in, Umahi said the Courts will take care of it.
Umahi: “My lawyers have spoken on my behalf. But one piece of information I want to correct is that 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. And her family and my family are like one family.
“She has been receiving treatment at a Turkish hospital before her death. Her medical bills were paid by me.
“She has her medical records in Turkish Hospital, being paid by us. The last one was on the 5th of April. I paid N2.2 million.
“She spoke to her boyfriend at the hour of her death and complained that she was bleeding from the nose. The boyfriend said ‘No, you have to report it.’ She said it had stopped. The boyfriend then said: ‘Listen, I will not continue this conversation since you are bleeding. It will increase the bleeding’.
“She told the boyfriend, ‘Don’t cut the call.’ The boyfriend cut the call. Three minutes later, the boyfriend called again. She was not responding.”
The Minister said Mary had earlier told the boyfriend that she wanted to take her bath.
“Even in the morning, she told her boyfriend she was going to bath because she had locked her door. When they discovered something was wrong, they broke down the door and discovered her dead. The tap was still running.
“What baffles me in this country is that everything becomes an opportunity. There is a guest house where she and other medical personnel stayed and that is very far from where I stay. Does it mean that because somebody dies in the Ministry of Works, the Minister must be accountable for that?
“People should be careful when they want to use the unfortunate death of a young girl to play politics. If we have a hand in the killing (death), it will follow our families and us. But if we don’t have a hand in it and you are jumping into it, be careful. Life is spiritual.
“It is very painful to me that the girl passed on. It is very difficult to replace her. She was one of my best workers.
“We have been begging the parents to allow an autopsy. They said it is against their culture. But we insisted through our Lawyer for an autopsy. I have directed that the corpse cannot be removed until an autopsy.
“We have reported to the Inspector General of Police to transfer the case to Abuja. Let them beg the family to do an autopsy. I am, also, begging the family to meet with the Inspector General so that we can convince them.
“The boyfriend, also, told us that when we were in Lagos, she called him and told him she was bleeding from the nose. He advised her to report to me so I could send her back to the hospital. But she didn’t want to stress me. He then told her to find a hospital around and seek treatment.
“I have asked the Police to go to the call logs. They should go to the call log of the boy and the call log of the girl. They will hear the last conversation the girl had with her boyfriend at the hour of her death.
“I suspect no foul play because the other lady who stayed with her was still sleeping in her own room. Her room was still locked, and the door had to be broken before they discovered the body. The tap was still running because I think she was going to take her bath.
“When they took her to the mortuary, that was where the Police took the picture. They did not dress her up in the mortuary before taking the picture and sending out damaging information.
“I will take legal action against media organisations spreading false information and cyber-bullying the deceased.
“I have directed my Lawyers to get across to those involved in cyber- bullying in this matter. We are going to test the law on that.”
Umahi gave these details at a press conference in Abuja where he gave an update on President Bola Tinubu’s newly approved projects.
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