The family of renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has taken legal action and is demanding a formal coroner’s inquest following the death of their 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi Esege, who died on January 7, 2026, at a Lagos hospital.
Nkanu, one of Ms Adichie’s twin sons, died on Wednesday after a brief illness. The author and her husband, Ivara Esege, a Nigerian-American doctor, welcomed their twins in April 2024.
In a statement that became public, Ms Adichie stated that her son’s death was avoidable, blaming what she described as critical failures in care during medical procedures that ought to have been routine. “My son would be alive today if not for an incident at Euracare Hospital on January 6th,” she said.
The family alleges that Nkanu was given too much propofol by an anesthesiologist during a routine procedure, became unresponsive, and despite resuscitation efforts, subsequently developed seizures and cardiac arrest before dying.
“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,” Adichie alleged.
In a legal notice sent on January 10, 2026, solicitors representing Adichie and Dr. Esege claimed that the hospital and its staff failed in their duty of care to their son, who passed away in the early hours of January 7, 2026.
The family has formally requested CCTV footage, medical records, and monitoring data related to Nkanu’s care.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria Olisa Agbakoba has called for a coroner’s inquest, noting that the Lagos State Coroner Law mandates investigation into cases of suspicious or unnatural deaths, including some maternal deaths, to determine the cause and circumstances, overriding religious or traditional objections to medical examination.
The law empowers the coroner to order autopsies even if families object on religious or traditional grounds, as such objections aren’t valid defenses against the law.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) to launch an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death. HEFAMAA has since commenced investigation and has visited the facility involved.
Euracare Hospital, in response, stated that “some of the reports currently being circulated are inaccurate,” describing Nkanu as “critically ill” when referred to their facility, and insisting that care was provided “in line with established clinical protocols and internationally accepted medical standards”.
The tragic case has reignited conversations about medical negligence and patient safety in Nigeria’s healthcare system, with calls for systemic reforms to prevent similar incidents.