The controversy surrounding the death of Miss Mary Habila has deepened as her family formally rejected plans for an autopsy, while legal experts and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) argued that the law empowers the government to investigate any suspicious death regardless of the family’s objections.
Mary Habila, a nurse attached to the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, died on June 27, 2026, at the Ebonyi residence of the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi.
While the minister has repeatedly called for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the Ebonyi State Police Command has maintained that a post-mortem examination is necessary before releasing the body, the deceased’s family has insisted that no autopsy should be conducted.
Her father, Mr. Tanko Habila Wisdom, said the family was only interested in collecting her remains for burial.
Commenting on the legal implications, legal practitioner Liborous Oshoma said Nigerian law places a duty on the government to investigate sudden, unnatural or suspicious deaths.
According to him, under the Coroner’s System Laws applicable in Nigerian states, including Ebonyi, as well as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), homicide and suspicious deaths are crimes against the state rather than private family matters.
“In civil cases, a complainant can choose to withdraw a complaint. However, murder or suspicious death is a criminal offence against the state and not a private civil matter,” Oshoma said.
He explained that while a deceased person’s family is entitled to express its wishes or file legal objections, it cannot lawfully prevent the state from carrying out an autopsy where criminal investigations require one.
“Once the police open a criminal investigation, the family loses the right to halt the process,” he stated.
Oshoma further argued that allowing families to veto autopsies could undermine criminal investigations by creating opportunities for suspects to influence relatives to suppress evidence.
According to him, the Ebonyi State Police Command can legally obtain a court order authorising an autopsy even where the family objects.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) also backed the decision to conduct a post-mortem examination, describing it as essential to establishing the actual cause of death.
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In a statement signed by its National President, Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, the association urged Nigerians not to politicise the incident, insisting that justice could only be achieved through a transparent investigation.
NANS also criticised the Northern Youth Council for demanding the resignation of Minister David Umahi over the incident, arguing that the minister had consistently supported calls for an investigation and should not be condemned before the facts are established.
According to the students’ body, any group genuinely interested in justice should support an impartial investigation rather than seek punitive measures before the conclusion of official inquiries.
As the debate intensified, Habila’s family petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, demanding the immediate release of her body.
Accompanied by their lawyer, Kaile Yusuf, and one of the deceased’s colleagues, Anita Baaki, the family submitted the petition at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.
Yusuf dismissed reports describing Mary as a physiotherapist, clarifying that she was a registered nurse employed by the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences before being seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works.
He accused some individuals of attempting to politicise the matter and reiterated the family’s opposition to an autopsy on cultural and traditional grounds.
“The family has decided not to allow an autopsy for personal, cultural and traditional reasons,” he said.
Mr. Habila appealed to authorities to release his daughter’s remains, saying the prolonged detention of the body had caused the family emotional distress.
“I don’t have much to say. All I am asking for is the corpse of my daughter so I can bury her. We don’t keep a dead child for this long,” he said.
Asked whether he suspected anyone in connection with his daughter’s death, he replied, “I am not suspecting anybody. Death happens. Even now, someone can fall down and die. It has happened. We just want her body.”
In the petition dated July 17, 2026, the family accused the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police of refusing to release the body despite fulfilling all the requirements requested by the police.
The family urged the Inspector-General of Police to transfer the investigation from Ebonyi State to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, order the immediate release of the body for burial and sanction any officer found to have acted improperly.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued an official response to the petition.