Minister of Works, David Umahi has said if he had a hand in the death of 26-year-old nurse Mary Habila, whose corpse was reportedly found at his residence in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, “it will follow our families and us. But if we don’t have hands in it and you are jumping into it, be careful. Life is spiritual.”
The minister who made the statement while speaking to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said Habila was a nurse with the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ebonyi State.
He said “people should be careful when they want to use the unfortunate death of a young girl to play politics,” just as he has demanded that an autopsy be carried out to unravel the circumstances that led to the death.
Umahi, who said the deceased was “like a daughter to him,” added that she worked closely with him for years and had a history of medical challenges for which he personally picked up the bills.
According to him, the late nurse complained of bleeding from her nose during a phone conversation with her boyfriend shortly before she was found dead, maintaining that there was no foul play in the incident.
Umahi said the late Habila had been living and working with him for about three years and enjoyed a close relationship with his family.
He said “she was a staff member of the Federal Medical University. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist. And her family and my family are like one family,” adding that she had been receiving treatment at a Turkish hospital before her death, with medical bills allegedly paid by him.
“She has her medical records in a Turkish Hospital, being paid by us. The last one was on the 5th of April, and it cost me N2.2m. The records are there. I paid N2.2 million.”
Umahi explained that the lady had complained of bleeding from the nose during a telephone conversation with her boyfriend shortly before communication stopped, adding that “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.”
He said the lady had earlier told her boyfriend that she intended to take a bath before communication ceased, adding that “even in the morning, she told her boyfriend she was going to bathe 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.”
The minister stressed that the guest house where the deceased died was located far from his personal residence, arguing that it was unfair to hold him personally responsible simply because the incident occurred within facilities linked to the ministry.
“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?” he asked, just as he said there were attempts to exploit the young woman’s death for political purposes.
