Can The Father Of A Deceased Woman Halt Police Investigation Or The Conduct Of Autopsy On The Deceased Body — Liborous Oshoma Esq
The lady who died at the residence of the Minister of Works, David Umahi, is identified as Mary Habila, and her official position is described as a nurse and physiotherapist attached to the minister’s medical team.
While various reports and official statements clarify her role, there are slight administrative variations regarding her exact employment structure
According to preliminary reports from the Ebonyi State Police Command, she was a medical professional attached to a team that accompanied the minister to his hometown in Uburu, Ebonyi State.
However, statements from the minister's legal team and media office indicate she was a staff member of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (or Medical Sciences) and was reportedly on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja.
Several reports and human rights groups also refer to her as the minister's personal physiotherapist.
Following her passing inside a staff residential building on the minister's compound on June 27, 2026, the case was transferred to the Ebonyi State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) where both the minister's legal team and the Ebonyi State Police Command have demanded a comprehensive forensic autopsy to officially establish her cause of death.
In a dramatic twist, her father, Tanko Habila Wisdom, formally filed a legal document titled “Affidavit of Withdrawal of Case” before the High Court of Justice of Ebonyi State requesting the withdrawal of autopsy.
In the affidavit, he noted that the family does not suspect any foul play regarding her death and explicitly stated therein, “While I welcome steps being taken to unravel the cause of my daughter's death, my family and I will not accept any autopsy on my daughter's body. And he therefore asked the police to terminate their investigation and release her remains immediately so the family can proceed with her burial. (I laugh in Ebonyi language, e get watin baba know when he no wan tell police?)
Despite the family's formal objection, the medical procedure remains a point of intense dispute as the Ebonyi State Police Command insists on conducting the autopsy. They maintain it is legally and practically necessary due to the "sensitive nature of the case" and the public controversy surrounding it.
David Umahi's legal team has also written to the police demanding a comprehensive forensic autopsy before the body is released to the father. They state that this is vital to protect the minister's integrity, block public speculation, and officially uncover the truth.
We must state as this stage that under the Nigerian criminal law, a family or father does not have the legal right to block an autopsy if the state suspects a crime.
While it is legal for a father to express his wishes and file an affidavit, the state holds the ultimate legal authority to override his request.
In civil cases, a complainant can choose to drop their complaint, however murder or suspicious death is a criminal offense against the state and not a private civil matter.
Under the Coroner's System Laws of Nigerian states (including Ebonyi State) and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), the government has a legal obligation to investigate any sudden, unnatural, or suspicious death.
Therefore a homicide or suspicious death is considered a crime against society and once the police open a criminal file, the family loses the right to command or halt the investigation.
Because if families are allowed to legally veto autopsies, it would open the door for killers to bribe or pressure families into hiding evidence.
In the alternative the Ebonyi State Police Command can legally secure a court order, through the state judiciary, to detain the body and conduct the post-mortem, even against the family's direct written objections.
Watin person no go see or hear for Nigeria never happen.
@Liborous Oshoma Esq.
While various reports and official statements clarify her role, there are slight administrative variations regarding her exact employment structure
According to preliminary reports from the Ebonyi State Police Command, she was a medical professional attached to a team that accompanied the minister to his hometown in Uburu, Ebonyi State.
However, statements from the minister's legal team and media office indicate she was a staff member of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (or Medical Sciences) and was reportedly on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja.
Several reports and human rights groups also refer to her as the minister's personal physiotherapist.
Following her passing inside a staff residential building on the minister's compound on June 27, 2026, the case was transferred to the Ebonyi State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) where both the minister's legal team and the Ebonyi State Police Command have demanded a comprehensive forensic autopsy to officially establish her cause of death.
In a dramatic twist, her father, Tanko Habila Wisdom, formally filed a legal document titled “Affidavit of Withdrawal of Case” before the High Court of Justice of Ebonyi State requesting the withdrawal of autopsy.
In the affidavit, he noted that the family does not suspect any foul play regarding her death and explicitly stated therein, “While I welcome steps being taken to unravel the cause of my daughter's death, my family and I will not accept any autopsy on my daughter's body. And he therefore asked the police to terminate their investigation and release her remains immediately so the family can proceed with her burial. (I laugh in Ebonyi language, e get watin baba know when he no wan tell police?)
Despite the family's formal objection, the medical procedure remains a point of intense dispute as the Ebonyi State Police Command insists on conducting the autopsy. They maintain it is legally and practically necessary due to the "sensitive nature of the case" and the public controversy surrounding it.
David Umahi's legal team has also written to the police demanding a comprehensive forensic autopsy before the body is released to the father. They state that this is vital to protect the minister's integrity, block public speculation, and officially uncover the truth.
We must state as this stage that under the Nigerian criminal law, a family or father does not have the legal right to block an autopsy if the state suspects a crime.
While it is legal for a father to express his wishes and file an affidavit, the state holds the ultimate legal authority to override his request.
In civil cases, a complainant can choose to drop their complaint, however murder or suspicious death is a criminal offense against the state and not a private civil matter.
Under the Coroner's System Laws of Nigerian states (including Ebonyi State) and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), the government has a legal obligation to investigate any sudden, unnatural, or suspicious death.
Therefore a homicide or suspicious death is considered a crime against society and once the police open a criminal file, the family loses the right to command or halt the investigation.
Because if families are allowed to legally veto autopsies, it would open the door for killers to bribe or pressure families into hiding evidence.
In the alternative the Ebonyi State Police Command can legally secure a court order, through the state judiciary, to detain the body and conduct the post-mortem, even against the family's direct written objections.
Watin person no go see or hear for Nigeria never happen.
@Liborous Oshoma Esq.