Chimamanda’s allegations were grounded on purported medical negligence following the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi Esege.
This allegation has prompted an inquiry ordered by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. This is according to a legal notice dated January 10, 2026, and subsequent public statements by the family, which have boosted public scrutiny of private healthcare norms in Nigeria.
The woeful incident occurred slightly a day after the child was appointed to Euracare for individual procedures ahead of a planned medical evacuation to the United States.
In the legal notice issued by solicitors led by Professor Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Adichie and her mate, Dr. Ivara Esege, contended that Euracare, its anesthesiologist, and the attending medical labor force breached their duty of care to the child.
The notice claimed that intravenous sedation was administered using propofol and that during transportation to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory after the MRI, the child developed unforeseen and severe complications.
The parents contended that despite being under deep sedation, the child was transferred between clinical areas under conditions that raised “ serious and substantial concerns” regarding compliance with case-safety protocols.
He was reportedly transferred without supplemental oxygen, without nonstop physiological monitoring, and without an acceptable coexisting medical labor force.
The notice further cited enterprises over the accretive dosing of propofol in a critically ill child, inadequate airway protection, delayed recognition of respiratory or cardiovascular compromise, and the contended absence of introductory reanimation equipment. The solicitors also indicted the sanitarium for failing to adequately expose the pitfalls associated with propofol, thereby undermining informed consent.
As part of their legal demands, the parents requested pukka clones of all medical records relating to their son’s treatment within seven days.
These include admission notes, concurrence forms, anaesthetic maps, medicine administration logs, ICU records, incident reports, and the individualities of all medical staff involved.
The sanitarium was also instructed to save all applicable substantiation, including CCTV footage, electronic monitoring data, drugstore records, and internal dispatches.
The letter advised that any destruction or revision of substantiation could amount to an inhibition of justice and attract legal consequences.
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What you should know
The child, born on March 25, 2024, was appertained from Atlantis Pediatric Hospital on January 6, 2026, for introductory examinations including an echocardiogram, brain MRI, insertion of a peripherally fitted central catheter( PICC line), and a lumbar puncture.
He reportedly failed in the early hours of January 7, 2026, following complications that arose during and after these procedures.
Anthea Esege Nwandu, the child’s aunt and a binary board- certified Internal Medicine specialist, had intimately disputed Euracare’s statement denying negligence.
She contended multiple inconsistencies in the sanitarium’s account, averring that transnational norms of care, similar to nonstop oxygen remedy, monitoring, and transfer with reanimation equipment, weren’t followed.
This isn’t the first time allegations of medical negligence in Lagos hospitals have drawn public attention.
In 2022, Nairametrics reported that the FCCPC took interest in the death of Big Brother Naija star Patrick Fakoya( Rico Swavey) following allegations of medical negligence at a Lagos sanitarium.
The commission’s Director-General, Babatunde Irukera, described viral vids recorded by medical staff rather than furnishing care as a violation of medical norms, patient quality, and confidentiality.
The Lagos State Government also interposed to review claims of possible reproachable negligence and dereliction of duty.
