The Coroner sitting at the Yaba Magistrate Court has scheduled 14 April 2026 for the commencement of the inquiry into the death of 21-month-old Nkanu, son of acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr Ivara Esege.
Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji set the date on Wednesday when the matter was mentioned before the court. Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, announced his appearance for the family, while Adebola Rahman represented the Attorney-General of Lagos State. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe of Health Ethics and Law Consulting appeared for Atlantis Hospital, with separate counsel representing Euracare.
During a preliminary session, Magistrate Adetunji disclosed that the court received an application from the Chief Coroner of Lagos State following a request by the Attorney-General that an inquest be conducted. She noted that the state government also considers itself affected by the loss.
“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 explained that the initial sitting was to determine whether a formal inquest would proceed. She directed all parties to file their witness statements before the next adjourned date and urged caution, emphasising that the court’s objective is to ascertain the cause of the incident.
On the issue of an autopsy, she stated: “For every inquest, the starting point is that there must be an autopsy done to give us a professional report,” she said.
Pinheiro asked the court to proceed with the hearing, maintaining that the parents believe 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 intends to call five independent medical experts, including an anaesthesiologist, a paediatric anaesthesia specialist, a radiologist, an intensivist, as well as the child’s father, who is also a medical doctor.
He further requested that Euracare be directed to preserve all physical and electronic evidence from 6 January 2026, including CCTV recordings, electronic monitoring data, pharmacy records, emergency equipment logs, internal communications, and morbidity and mortality reviews.
On the order of proceedings, Pinheiro proposed that Euracare open its defence, followed by the family and then Atlantis Hospital. The magistrate ruled that Euracare would begin, with the family presenting next and Atlantis thereafter.
Earlier, Onyemelukwe informed the court that Atlantis would give its account of events, adding that she only became aware of the court appearance on Tuesday after receiving correspondence.
Rahman, representing the Attorney-General, said that following reports of the child’s death, the Lagos AG applied for an inquest and urged the court to commence proceedings.
The court is expected to reconvene on 14 April 2026 for the substantive hearing.
Nkanu Adichie died on 7 January 2026 after receiving treatment at Atlantis Hospital and undergoing procedures at Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos. He had initially been admitted to Atlantis for what was described as a worsening but initially mild illness. While plans were underway to transfer him to Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, he was referred to Euracare for pre-flight diagnostic procedures, including an MRI, lumbar puncture and insertion of a central line. He died following the procedures.
His parents have alleged medical negligence and professional misconduct. In a legal notice dated 10 January 2026, issued by Pinheiro’s law firm, they accused Euracare, its anaesthesiologist and attending personnel of breaching the duty of care owed to their son.
The notice stated that the child, born on 25 March 2024, was referred to Euracare on 6 January 2026 for diagnostic and preparatory procedures ahead of an emergency evacuation to the United States, where a specialist team was reportedly awaiting his arrival.
The procedures reportedly included an echocardiogram, brain MRI, insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter, lumbar puncture and intravenous sedation using propofol.
The parents alleged that the child developed severe complications while being moved to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory after the MRI. They raised concerns about cumulative dosing of propofol in a critically ill child, inadequate airway protection during deep sedation, failure to ensure continuous physiological monitoring, transfer without supplemental oxygen or proper monitoring, insufficient accompanying medical personnel, alleged lack of basic resuscitation equipment, delayed response to respiratory or cardiovascular distress, and failure to comply with established paediatric anaesthesia and patient-transfer safety standards.