Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Archives

The Coroner sitting at the Yaba Magistrate Court has adjourned till April 14, 2026, the commencement of the inquiry into the death of 21-month-old Nkanu, son of renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr. Ivara Esege.

Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji fixed the date on Wednesday when the matter came up before the court.

When the case was called, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, announced appearance for the family, while Adebola Rahman appeared on behalf of the Attorney-General of Lagos State.

Cheluchi Onyemelukwe of Health Ethics and Law Consulting represented Atlantis Hospital, while another counsel represented Euracare.

In a preliminary meeting with the parties, Magistrate Adetunji stated that the court received an application from the Chief Coroner of Lagos State following a request by the Attorney-General of the state that an inquest be conducted.

She said that the Lagos State Government also considers itself bereaved.

“The Lagos State Government is also bereaved; that is why the Attorney-General has taken this step. It is not just the family of the deceased that is affected,” she said.

The magistrate further explained that the preliminary session was to determine whether a formal inquest would proceed.

She directed all parties to file their witness statements before the next adjourned date and cautioned them to approach the proceedings carefully, stressing that the court’s goal was to determine the cause of the incident.

Magistrate Adetunji also said that an autopsy is generally the starting point in every inquest.

“For every inquest, the starting point is that there must be an autopsy done to give us a professional report,” she said.

Pinheiro urged the court to proceed with the hearing, stating that the parents maintain that the child’s death was unnatural and occurred during medical intervention.

He said the family would present evidence alleging gross medical negligence, possible overdose, wrongful prescription, improper administration of propofol, and wrongful diagnosis.

According to him, the family plans to call five independent medical professionals, including an anesthesiologist, a paediatric anaesthesia specialist, a radiologist, an intensivist, as well as the child’s father, who is also a medical doctor.

Pinheiro also urged the court to direct Euracare to preserve all physical and electronic evidence from January 6, 2026, including CCTV footage, electronic monitoring data, pharmacy records, emergency equipment logs, internal communications, and morbidity and mortality reviews.

He suggested that Euracare should open the hearing, followed by the family, and then Atlantis Hospital.

The magistrate agreed that Euracare would proceed first, but ruled that the family would present its case next, followed by Atlantis.

Earlier, Onyemelukwe told the court that Atlantis would present its account of events.

She stated that she only became aware of the court appearance on Tuesday after receiving a letter.

Rahman, representing the Attorney-General, said that following news of the child’s death, the Lagos AG applied for an inquest.

“Since all the parties are here, we would be asking the court to open the hearing. We pray this court to commence with the hearing,” he said.

The court will reconvene on April 14, 2026, to commence the substantive hearing. (Channels)

Nigerian literary icon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has pointed fingers at a hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos, EURACARE Multispecialist Hospital for the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, who passed away on January 7.

In a leaked text message seen by The Guardian on Saturday, Adichie revealed that the anaesthesiologist who attended to Nkanu was negligent and careless while attending to her son. According to Adichie, the anesthesiologist’s negligence during a basic medical procedure in preparation for their trip led to her son’s demise.

“My son would be alive today if not for an incident at the hospital on January 6,” the message read in part.

The Guardian contacted Adichie’s media team to confirm the authenticity of the message. Her team told The Guardian that Adichie sent the message out.

While narrating the series of events that transpired before Nkanu’s death, Adichie noted that her son developed some symptoms which she thought was a cold, but it turned into a “serious infection,” and he was admitted to Atlantis Hospital.

She added that they were to travel the following day, and a team from Johns Hopkins Hospital was awaiting their arrival in Baltimore, but the team requested a lumbar puncture and an MRI.

“The Nigerian team had also decided to put in a ‘central line’ (used to administer IV medications) in preparation for Nkanu’s flight. Atlantis Hospital referred us elsewhere, which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done,” Adichie added.

The following morning, Adichie, Nkanu, and her husband left Atlantis Hospital for another hospital. While they were there, they were informed that he would need to be sedated to prevent him from moving during the MRI and the “central line” procedure.

She added that she was waiting outside when people, including a particular Dr M, rushed into the theatre. According to her, it was that moment she knew something had happened.

“A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive, and was quickly resuscitated. But suddenly, Nkanu was on a ventilator. He was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures and cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone.

“It turns out that Nkanu was never monitored after being given too much propofol. The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theatre, so nobody knew when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive.

“How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him? Later, after the ‘central line’ procedure, the anesthesiologist casually switched off Nkanu’s oxygen and again decided to carry him on his shoulder to the ICU.”

Adichie further noted that she had heard about two previous cases involving the same anesthesiologist and questioned why EURACARE hospital allowed him to continue working there despite these unfortunate incidents.

“We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day. We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful boy was gone forever. It is like living your worst nightmare. I will never survive the loss of my child.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Guardian called the accused hospital on the number provided on the hospital’s website. A male staff member responded and told our correspondent that the person authorised to comment on the incident was not on duty. When our correspondent requested the person’s contact information, the staff instructed our reporter to call again on Monday.

“The person who is supposed to comment is not on duty. Call in on Monday. (Guardian)

Tag: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Coroner’s inquest into death of Chimamanda Adichie’s son to begin April 14

Nigerian hospital responsible for my son’s death — Adichie