Renowned Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has served Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos with a legal notice over the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi Esege, alleging medical negligence and serious professional misconduct.
The legal action followed the death of the toddler in the early hours of January 7, 2026, after undergoing a series of medical procedures at the private hospital.
Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has also ordered a probe into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death following public concern over the incident.
In a legal notice dated January 10, 2026, solicitors acting for Adichie and her partner, Dr Ivara Esege, accused Euracare, its anaesthesiologist and other medical personnel of breaching the duty of care owed to their son.
According to the notice, the child, who was born on March 25, 2024, was referred to Euracare on January 6, 2026, from Atlantis Pediatric Hospital for diagnostic and preparatory procedures ahead of a planned medical evacuation to the United States, where a specialist team was said to be on standby.
The procedures listed in the notice included an echocardiogram, brain MRI, insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter and a lumbar puncture. The child was reportedly sedated intravenously with propofol.
The parents alleged that while being transported to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory after the MRI, the child suddenly developed severe complications.
The notice stated that despite being under deep sedation, the toddler was moved between clinical areas in a manner that raised “serious and substantive concerns” about compliance with patient safety protocols.
He was later pronounced dead in the early hours of January 7.
The legal notice, issued without prejudice and signed by the law firm led by Prof Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, outlined several alleged lapses in paediatric anaesthetic and procedural care.
These included concerns over the suitability and cumulative dosing of propofol in a critically ill child, failure to adequately protect the airway during sedation and lack of continuous physiological monitoring.
The parents further alleged that their son was transferred without supplemental oxygen, without proper monitoring and without sufficient accompanying medical personnel.
They also raised issues around the alleged absence of basic resuscitation equipment, delayed response to respiratory or cardiovascular distress and failure to comply with established paediatric anaesthesia and patient transfer protocols.
Another major complaint was the alleged failure of the hospital to fully disclose the risks and side effects of propofol and other anaesthetic agents, which the parents said undermined informed consent.
According to the solicitors, these actions amounted to clear breaches of duty of care and made the hospital and its staff liable for medical negligence resulting in the child’s death.
As part of their demands, the parents requested certified copies of all medical records related to their son’s treatment within seven days.
The documents requested included admission records, consent forms, pre-anaesthetic assessments, anaesthetic charts, drug administration logs, monitoring records, procedural notes, nursing observations, ICU records, incident reports and the names of all medical staff involved.
They also requested internal reviews, MRI suite safety logs and all documents connected to the child’s care.
Euracare was formally instructed to preserve all physical and electronic evidence, including CCTV footage, monitoring data, pharmacy records, emergency equipment logs, internal communications and any morbidity and mortality reviews.
The solicitors warned that any destruction or alteration of evidence after receiving the notice would be treated as obstruction of justice.
The letter stated that failure to comply would leave the parents with no option but to pursue legal, regulatory and judicial action against the hospital and the medical personnel involved.
Meanwhile, the child’s aunt, Dr Anthea Esege Nwandu, has challenged Euracare’s public statement issued on January 10, 2026.
Nwandu, a dual board-certified Internal Medicine physician with 30 years of clinical experience in Nigeria and the United States, described the hospital’s account as misleading.
In her statement, she said, “In their press statement, Euracare claims that there are inaccuracies in the account of how my nephew passed. Which inaccuracies exactly?”
She disputed the hospital’s claim that the child had received care at two paediatric centres before arriving at Euracare.
“Euracare claims the child had received care at two paediatric centres. This is false. He was in one hospital before coming to Euracare for the procedures,” she said.
Nwandu also questioned Euracare’s claim that it followed international medical standards.
She said, “International standards demand that a child on oxygen who is given sedation must have continuous oxygen therapy. Did Euracare do this? No. They confirmed this verbally to me.”
She added, “International standards demand continuous monitoring of oxygen levels, pulse and respiration. Did Euracare do this? No.”
According to her, proper protocol also required that resuscitation equipment, such as an ambubag, should accompany a sedated child during transfers within the hospital.
“Stopping breathing is a known risk of anaesthesia. Did Euracare provide this basic safeguard? No,” she said.
Chimamanda Adichie also accused the hospital of negligence, alleging, “The anesthesiologist was criminally negligent. He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed.”
Euracare Hospital has denied the allegations, expressing sympathy to the family, while investigations into the incident are ongoing.
