Court rejects Hospital’s bid to halt inquest into death of Chimamanda Adichie’s son

On 7 January 2026, the son of celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nkanu Esege, passed away at Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos. His parents blamed the hospital for gross medical negligence, claiming that an overdose of sedatives and denial of oxygen caused cardiac arrest. However, the hospital maintained that the child had arrived critically ill and had been treated according to standard medical protocols.

Following his death, the Lagos State Government initiated a coroner's inquest to investigate the circumstances of the child's demise. Euracare subsequently sought a court injunction to halt the proceedings, arguing that an inquest without a body for post-mortem analysis would produce unreliable conclusions and waste state resources.

They also claimed that the sequence in which evidence from medical staff was presented infringed upon their constitutional right to a fair hearing under Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution. However, the Lagos State High Court dismissed the hospital's application, dismissing their claims as a misunderstanding of the nature, jurisdiction, and functioning of a coroner's court.

Justice Aishat Opesanwo ruled that the inquest is mandatory for deaths occurring in hospitals and that the coroner holds the discretion to determine the order in which witness statements and evidence are presented, ensuring that the court operates under its own statutory authority.