Distraught Family Petitions IGP to Storm Ebonyi and Rescue Dead Nurse’s Body from Police After Mysterious Death in Minister’s Mansion

The heartbreaking saga surrounding the tragic passing of a 26-year-old nurse has taken a high-stakes legal turn as her grieving family formally petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, demanding the immediate release of her remains and a total overhaul of the ongoing investigation.

The bitter showdown highlights a growing standoff between the victim’s household and local law enforcement in Ebonyi State. Mary Habila, a dedicated nurse who was temporarily seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works, lost her life under deeply unclear circumstances at a building within the Uburu country home of the Minister of Works, David Umahi. Since the tragic incident occurred, her body has remained locked up in a regional mortuary under the strict instructions of the Ebonyi State Police Command.

Frustrated by what they describe as a deliberate, unjustifiable roadblock, the nurse’s father, Mr. Habila Wisdom Janko, took a decisive stand by filing an official petition directly to the Office of the Inspector-General of Police. Handled by their lead counsel, K.A. Yusuf, the family is openly accusing the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police of unlawfully withholding the corpse despite the household complying with every single administrative and legal requirement requested by the investigating team.

The continuous denial has pushed the family into deep despair, rendering them unable to accord their daughter the basic dignity of traditional and religious funeral rites.

“The continuous retention of our daughter’s corpse without any clear legal justification is completely arbitrary, oppressive, and empty of human empathy,” the family’s petition stated emphatically. “This delay has inflicted agonizing psychological, emotional, and financial trauma on the entire household. If the local command truly requires the remains for specific investigative tests, they owe us a formal, transparent timeline. Keeping her body indefinitely in a freezer while keeping us in the dark is an insult to human dignity.”

Beyond the desperate battle to secure her remains for a proper burial, the Habila family has completely lost faith in the local police’s ability to deliver an unbiased inquiry. A major pillar of their petition specifically begs the IGP to invoke his administrative powers to strip the Ebonyi State Police Command of the entire case file, demanding that the homicide investigation be immediately transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja for a transparent, top-level review.

The family’s legal team also used a media brief to firmly push back against escalating rumors on social media, clarifying that Mary was a professional civil servant and registered nurse, not a physiotherapist as early online reports claimed. They strictly warned political actors to stop using their painful tragedy for cheap political leverage. As the petition sits on the desk of the nation’s top cop, the heartbroken family continues to wait in agony, hoping a swift federal directive will finally let them bring their daughter home for her final rest.