An Abuja lawyer and human rights activist has thrown down a direct challenge to the police: arrest the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, and keep him in custody until investigations into the death of Mary Habila are concluded.
Barrister Ojonimi S. Apeh made the demand in a statement on Thursday, saying silence and deference have no place when a young woman dies under mysterious circumstances inside the home of a powerful public official.
Habila, 26, was said to have died on June 27 at Umahi’s residence in Uburu, Ebonyi State. She was a physiotherapist who worked at the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, and had been on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works for three years.
Apeh said he was not accusing the minister of killing her. But he argued that the law must treat everyone the same, whether they wear agbada in Abuja or wait in a police cell in a state command.
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“While I am not alleging that the minister killed her and that he is innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction; by now, he should have been arrested and kept in custody pending further investigations just like other Nigerians who are in detention for minor and bailable offences,” Apeh stated.
He pointed to what he called a double standard. Ordinary Nigerians, he said, are locked up for years over bailable offences while police conclude investigations. Women invited to hotels have been detained for days simply because a man died there, sometimes from an overdose.
“But why is Umahi being treated differently or with kid gloves for a capital offence,” Apeh asked.
“Are we now saying that position shields you from the process?”
The lawyer said unverified reports claim the minister left his residence shortly after the incident. What Nigerians deserve, he insisted, is clarity.
“Who was with the lady when she died? Was she being worked on or she was the one working? If she was being worked on, was it on a concrete road or asphalt road? These are some of the things Nigerians need to know,” he said.
Apeh called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, to order Umahi’s arrest and detention pending further investigations.
The demand adds to mounting pressure on authorities. The Northern Youth Council of Nigeria had earlier given the minister a seven-day ultimatum to resign, while Umahi himself has asked for an autopsy and said the matter should be transferred to Abuja for investigation.
The police have not announced any arrest. The IGP’s office has also not responded to the lawyer’s call as of Thursday evening.
For Apeh, the issue is not about guilt. It is about process.
“In many criminal investigations, suspects are sometimes detained while investigations are ongoing,” he said. “We have witnessed how that works for the poor. Why should it be different now?”
Mary Habila’s family has kept a low public profile. Her death has, however, continued to spark anger online, protests in some quarters, and fresh questions about power, accountability, and who the law truly protects.
