Habila spent most of her time at Umahi’s residence in Uburu and allegedly continued to do so even after securing employment at DUFUHS.
“We are not sure of what she did in the house exactly but she was well known in the residence,” one source said.
The revelations came after the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) publicly refuted claims that Habila was a physiotherapist.
The professional body said it had verified her credentials through the appropriate regulatory channels and found that her name did not appear on the database of registered physiotherapists.
Following verification through the appropriate regulatory channels, the name ‘Mary Habila,’ as stated, does not appear on the database of registered physiotherapists,” the NSP said.
The society stressed that professional identities should be established through recognised regulatory processes and not assumptions, urging public officials to verify professional claims before making public statements.
The clarification contradicted an earlier statement issued on July 11 by Minister Umahi’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, which stated that Habila and Baaki were physiotherapists employed by DUFUHS and had been on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works for the past three years.
“It is important to clarify that Miss Mary Habila and Miss Anita Baaki are employees of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, who had been on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works as physiotherapists for the past three years until the unfortunate passing of Miss Habila,” the statement had said.
Baaki later filed a sworn affidavit before the High Court of Ebonyi State, providing what she described as a first-hand account of the events preceding Habila’s death.
In the affidavit sworn at the High Court Registry in Abakaliki on July 15, 2026, Baaki stated that she had worked with Umahi since his days as Governor of Ebonyi State before she was employed by DUFUHS.
She further stated that she and Habila had worked together under the Minister of Works for about three years and had become close friends.
According to Baaki, she, Habila and other members of the minister’s staff travelled from Abuja to Ebonyi on June 24, 2026, days before Habila was found unconscious inside her locked room.
Habila’s death remains the subject of intense public scrutiny and an ongoing police investigation.
The Ebonyi State Police Command has insisted that a forensic autopsy is necessary before her body can be released for burial, acting on legal advice from the Ebonyi State Director of Public Prosecutions, J.U. Chukwu, who said a post-mortem examination would provide crucial forensic evidence in determining the cause of her sudden and unexplained death.
The DPP had noted that available evidence indicated Habila “laid lifeless on the floor of her apartment naked with blood stain on her nose and mouth,” concluding that only an autopsy could establish the true cause of her sudden and unexplained death, although he advised that the police retained the discretion to proceed with the examination or honour the family’s wishes.
The dispute over the autopsy prompted Habila’s family to postpone her burial indefinitely after the police declined to release her body.
Her father, Wisdom Habila, has repeatedly appealed to the authorities to release his daughter’s remains, insisting that the family does not want an autopsy and is not accusing anyone of causing her death.
“I don’t have much to talk about in this case. All that I want is the corpse of my daughter,” he said during a public address.
“We don’t keep the body of a little child for so long like this. That is why I’m here to say once again and for all, I need the corpse of my daughter to take her for burial.”
The family has also formally opposed the autopsy through an affidavit filed before the High Court of Ebonyi State, requesting that Habila’s body be released intact for burial.
Minister Umahi has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that he requested a comprehensive forensic autopsy to establish the cause of Habila’s death, urging the public to allow investigators to conclude their work.
Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding Habila’s death remain ongoing.
