Award-winning author Chimamanda Adichie has made public a letter accusing Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, Lagos, of attempting to cover up circumstances surrounding the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Adichie-Esege.
Adichie shared the letter, dated April 16, 2026, on Facebook on Saturday, saying she decided to release it because “to keep silent about Euracare’s evil is to enable it.”
Addressed to the chairman of the hospital’s board, the letter details a series of allegations against Euracare and some of its senior officials following Nkanu’s death on January 7, 2026.
According to Adichie, Euracare’s medical director, Dr Tosin Majekodunmi, visited her family at their Ikoyi residence a day after the child died and admitted that the hospital’s anaesthesiologist, Dr Titus Ogundare, failed to meet the required standard of care.
She alleged that Majekodunmi had earlier told her that Ogundare administered “too much propofol” during a procedure on the toddler and accepted responsibility for what happened.
Adichie said the director also promised that the anaesthesiologist would be dismissed, but later stopped communicating with the family after hospital management took over the matter.
The novelist further challenged the cause of death stated on Nkanu’s death certificate, which she said attributed his death to bacterial and fungal meningitis.
“When Nkanu came to Euracare that morning for tests, he was conscious and talking and interactive. He was sick but he was not critical,” she stated.
She argued that the certificate should instead reflect what she believes were the actual causes of death: improper sedation, hypoxic brain injury and cardiac arrest.
Adichie also alleged that a senior figure linked to the hospital’s ownership sent a message through a relative warning against legal action, suggesting damaging claims could be made about her during court proceedings.
Describing the message as “manipulative and implicitly threatening,” she said: “They can drag all they wish in the mud, but our quest for justice will continue.”
The author questioned Euracare’s conduct in the ongoing coroner’s proceedings, noting that the hospital initially requested an inquest because of “rumours of negligence” but is now seeking to halt it.
“If Euracare cares about the truth, then why create delays and distractions and now, finally, try to stop an inquest?” she asked.
The dispute is currently before the courts. On May 26, the Lagos State High Court granted Euracare leave to challenge the jurisdiction of the Coroner’s Court and ordered a stay of proceedings pending the determination of its judicial review application. The Coroner’s Court subsequently adjourned the matter until October 8.
The Lagos State Attorney-General, Lawal Pedro, and the Chief Coroner of Lagos State have since filed a preliminary objection urging the High Court to dismiss the hospital’s application, describing it as incompetent, premature and an abuse of court process.
Nkanu, one of Adichie’s twin sons with her husband Dr Ivara Esege, died after complications arising during medical procedures at Euracare.
Following investigations, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigation Panel of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria established a prima facie case of medical negligence and suspended Dr Majekodunmi, Dr Ogundare and Atlantis Paediatric Hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr Atinuke Uwajeh, pending disciplinary proceedings.
Euracare had not publicly responded to Adichie’s latest allegations as of the time of this report.
