The father of the late Mary Habila, Mr. Tanko Habila Wisdom, has appealed to the authorities to release his daughter’s body for burial, insisting that the family is not interested in an autopsy.
Speaking in an emotional video, Tanko said his only desire was to give his daughter a proper burial, lamenting that her body had been kept for too long.
“I am Tanko Habila Wisdom, the father of the late Mary Habila. I don’t have much to say in this case. All that I want is the corpse of my daughter,” he said.
“You don’t keep the corpse of a little child for so long like this. That is why I am here to say once and for all that I need the corpse of my daughter so that I can take her for burial. That is what I am standing on.”

He maintained that the family does not want an autopsy to be conducted, reiterating his demand for the immediate release of the body.
“I don’t want the autopsy, and that is why I am demanding the corpse of my daughter so we can bury her now,” he added.
Tanko also disclosed that the family had enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Minister of Works, David Umahi, where his daughter worked, and stressed that they were not accusing anyone over her death.
“We have been having a very cordial relationship with the Minister of Works, her workplace, and we don’t want that autopsy they are talking about,” he said.
“I am not suspecting anybody because death can occur at any time. Even as we are standing here now, one can fall down and die.”
The family’s appeal comes amid ongoing public interest in the circumstances surrounding Mary Habila’s death, with calls from different quarters for clarity over the incident.

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Residents and businesses in several parts of Enugu State were plunged into darkness on Friday evening following an explosion at the Gariki Injection Substation.

MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) confirmed the incident in a statement issued by its Head of Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh.

According to the company, the explosion occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 17, 2026, and damaged the indoor 11kV breaker at the Gariki Injection Substation, resulting in a power outage across multiple communities served by the Army and Gariki 11kV feeders.

The affected areas under the Army 11kV feeder include Army Barracks, One Day Road, Meniru, Upper Meniru and Joe Continental.

Communities affected under the Gariki 11kV feeder include Gariki Market, Mayor Market, Roban Stores along Agbani Road, Crunchies on Agbani Road, Mobile Police Barracks, Amechi Road, Upper Mount, Ikiriki, Emeka Ebila, Ozalla Street, Egbonnaji, Nnaji Ogbodo, Idaw River, Igbariam Street, Liberation, Mount, Umuchu, Achina, Vance, Unubi, Enugu Agidi, Amawbia, Amokwe, Kenneth, Amah and Hill Crest.

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MEDL said its technical team has commenced a comprehensive assessment of the damage and is working to restore electricity supply to the affected areas as quickly as possible.

The company apologised for the disruption and appealed to customers for patience and understanding while repair work continues.

The lawyer to the family of late nurse Mary Habila, Barrister Yusuf, has disclosed that Minister of Works David Umahi repeatedly requested that an autopsy be conducted to determine the cause of her death, but the family consistently declined the request, citing personal, cultural, and traditional reasons.

Speaking during a press briefing at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, Yusuf said the family had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) over the continued refusal of the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police to release Habila’s body for burial.

According to him, Mary Habila, who died on June 27, 2026, was a registered nurse employed by the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, before she was seconded to the Minister of Works’ office, where she had worked for about three years.

He dismissed claims circulating on social media about her profession and character, insisting that Habila was a civil servant with employment records and payslips to support the family’s position.

“It is imperative to state that late Mary Habila was not a physiotherapist. She was a nurse and a civil servant who worked in the minister’s office after being seconded from the university,” Yusuf said.

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The lawyer alleged that despite the family’s compliance with police procedures to retrieve the body for burial, it has remained in custody without any explanation from the Ebonyi State Police Command.

He further accused unnamed individuals of attempting to politicise Habila’s death.

“From all indications, some people want to use her death as a pawn in their political manoeuvring just to score cheap political points,” he said.

Yusuf also confirmed that Umahi had, on several occasions, requested that an autopsy be carried out.

“The minister has repeatedly called for an autopsy, but the family has consistently rejected it because of personal, cultural and traditional reasons,” he stated.

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He also rejected allegations questioning Habila’s character, describing them as false and defamatory.

“Mary Habila was never a ‘runs girl’ or anything of that nature. She was in Abuja working with the minister in her official capacity,” he added.

Yusuf said the family, accompanied by Habila’s parents, relatives and one of her colleagues, visited the office of the Inspector-General of Police to formally submit their petition seeking the immediate release of her remains.

He expressed hope that the IGP would intervene and direct the Ebonyi State Police Command to release the body so the family could give her a befitting burial.

The petition comes amid growing public interest and controversy surrounding the circumstances of Habila’s death, with the family insisting that their immediate concern is recovering her body for burial.

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Mary Habila’s Family Petitions IGP over CP’s Refusal to Release Corpse for Burial
The family of late Mary Habila has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, over the alleged refusal of the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police to release her body for burial more than two weeks after her death.
In a petition dated July 17, 2026, and submitted through their solicitors, K.A. Yusuf & Associates, the family accused the Ebonyi State Police Command of unlawfully withholding Habila’s remains despite their compliance with all legal requirements for its release.
The petition, addressed to the IGP at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, stated that Mary Habila, a staff member of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, died on June 27, 2026, under circumstances that were reported to the police. Since then, the body has remained in a designated mortuary under the authority of the Ebonyi State Police Command.
According to the family’s lawyers, repeated applications, personal visits and full compliance with every lawful requirement communicated by the police have failed to secure the release of the corpse for burial.
The petition described the continued detention of the body as arbitrary and oppressive, arguing that it has denied the family the opportunity to perform customary and religious burial rites while inflicting emotional, psychological, financial and cultural hardship.
“It is our client’s respectful position that the continued detention of his daughter’s corpse without lawful justification is arbitrary, oppressive, and inconsistent with the principles of justice, fairness and respect for human dignity,” the petition stated.
The family further expressed a loss of confidence in the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police, urging the IGP to intervene.
Specifically, the petition requested the IGP to transfer the case from the Ebonyi State Police Command to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, direct the immediate release of Mary Habila’s body for burial, order disciplinary or administrative action against any officer found to have acted unlawfully, and issue any further directives necessary to ensure justice is served.
The lawyers also urged the police authorities to communicate the legal basis for withholding the body and provide a timeline for concluding investigations instead of keeping the remains indefinitely.
The petition follows growing public attention surrounding Habila’s death, with her family insisting on the release of her remains.

The family had earlier said they suspect no foul play in her death and preferred an end to police investigations.

ENUGU, NIGERIA — A high-stakes legal battle involving the former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief Senator Jim Nwobodo, his wife, and a prominent Enugu medical practitioner, Dr. Basil Kenechukwu Ogbuanu, was unexpectedly stalled at the Enugu State High Court following a dramatic, last-minute change in the defendants’ legal representation.

​The abrupt shake-up in the defense lineup forced a halt to the scheduled proceedings, preventing the court from hearing key applications in the multi-party land and property dispute.

​The presiding judge, Justice C.C. Ani, was forced to adjourn the matter on Thursday to October 22, 2026, to allow the plaintiff’s legal team sufficient time to study a wave of newly substituted court processes filed by the defendants’ new counsel.

​The legal battle, registered under Suit No. E/328/2026, pits Dr. Ogbuanu against Chief Senator Jim Nwobodo, his wife, Barrister (Mrs) Patricia Nwobodo, and seven other corporate and individual defendants.

​The co-defendants in the sprawling suit include Linkana Hotels Limited, Mr. Gerald Asogwa, Kingsley U. Chime, Surveyor G.C. Ishiwu, Millennium Construction & Estate Developers Limited, Hon. Titus Okechi, and Moss Island Limited.

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​At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the court was officially notified that the Nwobodos and their co-defendants had formally debriefed their former legal representative, the distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Iyom A.J. Offiah of Obra Legal.

​In her place, the defendants briefed Chief C. Chuma Oguejiofor, Esq., of Chuma Oguejiofor & Co. (House of Law), based on Carter Street, Ogui Road, Enugu, to take over their defense.

​Upon taking charge of the defense, Chief Oguejiofor immediately moved to withdraw all legal processes previously filed on behalf of the defendants by their former counsel on July 6, 2026.

​The defense then substituted those withdrawn documents with a brand-new set of applications, affidavits, and objections, which were formally filed in the court’s registry on July 16, 2026.

​Dr. Ogbuanu’s lead counsel, Onyechi Araka, did not oppose the sudden withdrawal and subsequent replacement of the defense’s processes, recognizing the defendants’ constitutional right to choice of counsel.

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​Araka, however, strongly urged the court for an adjournment, stating that his team required adequate time to meticulously study and analyze the newly filed processes, which they intend to vigorously contest.

​Recognizing the fundamental principles of fair hearing and the plaintiff’s right of reply, Justice Ani granted the application for adjournment, scheduling October 22, 2026, for the hearing of all pending applications.

​Among the new filings introduced by the Oguejiofor-led defense team is a crucial Notice of Preliminary Objection aiming to terminate the plaintiff’s lawsuit at its foundational stage.

​The objection, brought pursuant to Section 86(6) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and various provisions of the High Court Rules of Enugu State 2020, prays the court to set aside the service of the originating processes on the defendants.

​Alternatively, the defendants are asking the court to strike out or dismiss the entire suit in limine (at the threshold), arguing that it is entirely incompetent and constitutes a gross abuse of the judicial process.

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​In the grounds listed for the application, the defense contends that the originating and other vital processes in the suit were never properly served on the defendants.

​The defense further launched a scathing critique of the lawsuit’s drafting, describing the plaintiff’s pleadings as “unnecessarily verbose, circumlocutory, imprecise, windy, and mostly lacking in meaning.”

​Crucially, the defendants argue that Dr. Ogbuanu’s lawsuit is a direct and abusive replication of an active, pre-existing lawsuit.

​According to court documents, a prior lawsuit, Suit No. E/244/2025, between Dr. (Mrs) Patricia Nwobodo & Anor vs. Dr. Basil Ogbuanu, was filed on March 1, 2026, long before the present suit was instituted, involving the same parties and subject matter.

​The defense also raised a structural jurisdictional issue, asserting that the police and other public officers whose presence is imperative for a comprehensive and final determination of the dispute were not joined as parties.

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​Furthermore, they argue that the suit is legally barred by Section 9(1) of the Actions Law, Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004, and that requisite pre-action notices were never served on the public officers involved.

​In a supporting affidavit sworn to at the High Court Registry, Chidinma Edeh, a litigation clerk at Chuma Oguejiofor & Co., averred that she had the explicit consent of the defendants to depose to the facts of the change of counsel and the preliminary objection.

​As both legal teams retreat to their chambers to draft their respective responses, members of the Enugu legal community and public observers are keeping a close watch on the High Court ahead of the high-stakes showdown on October 22.