The Incorporated Trustees of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ United Associations (SOKAPU) have filed a suit against the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over the death of Mary Habila, a nurse who died while attached to his medical team.
Habila died on June 27 while at the minister’s residence, a development that has continued to attract public attention and demands for a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The Ebonyi State Police Command had earlier said it would proceed with an autopsy despite objections reportedly raised by members of Habila’s family.
Umahi had also written to the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police requesting that an autopsy be conducted to establish the cause of death.
In the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, Habila Tanko Wisdom, father of the deceased, the attorney general of Ebonyi State and the state commissioner of Police were also listed as respondents.
SOKAPU is seeking ₦20 billion in damages from Umahi over what it described as the loss of life arising from an alleged breach of duty of care while Habila was under his custody.
The association is also asking the court to declare that the nurse died under “unexplained, controversial, and unnatural circumstances.”
According to the group, the alleged hurried removal of Habila’s remains to a mortuary without first making a formal report to the Nigeria Police Force amounted to a violation of her right to life.
It cited Section 33 of the Constitution and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in support of its argument.
SOKAPU further urged the court to hold that the alleged failure to promptly conduct an independent and transparent autopsy, alongside a police investigation into the death, amounted to a “continuing violation” of fundamental rights.
The association consequently asked the court to order the relevant authorities, particularly the Ebonyi State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Police, to facilitate an independent and impartial autopsy.
It proposed that the examination be conducted by a team of pathologists and other medical experts drawn from the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; University College Hospital, Ibadan; and the National Hospital, Abuja.
The group also wants the court to direct the police to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances and cause of Habila’s death before her remains are released for burial.
