Renowned author Chimamanda Adichie has accused Euracare Hospital in Lagos of medical negligence in the death of her 21‑month‑old son, Nkanu Nnamdi, on January 7, 2026.
Adichie said her son would still be alive if not for the incident at Euracare. “We were in Lagos for Christmas. Nkanu had what we first thought was just a cold, but soon turned into a very serious infection and he was admitted to Atlantis hospital,” she said.
Nkanu was scheduled to travel to the United States the next day, accompanied by travelling doctors, with a medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore ready to receive him. Adichie said the team had requested a lumbar puncture and MRI, and the Nigerian doctors also decided to insert a central line in preparation for the flight. “Atlantis hospital referred us to Euracare Hospital, which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done,” she added.
She described the events at Euracare on January 6: “The morning of the 6th, we left Atlantis hospital for Euracare, Nkanu carried in his father’s arms. We were told he would need to be sedated to prevent him from moving during the MRI and the ‘central line’ procedure. I was waiting just outside the theater. I saw people, including Dr M, rushing into the theater and immediately knew something had happened.”
Adichie said her son was given too much propofol and not properly monitored. “A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol. He had seizures. Cardiac arrest. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone.” She added, “The anesthesiologist was criminally negligent. No proper protocol was followed. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever. It is like living your worst nightmare.”
She also raised concerns about the anesthesiologist’s history. “We have now heard about two previous cases of this same anesthesiologist overdosing children. Why did Euracare allow him to keep working? This must never happen to another child.”
Euracare Hospital expressed sympathy for the family and said it has commenced a thorough internal investigation. Nkanu was one of Adichie’s twin sons, born via surrogate in 2024. She and her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege, also have a daughter born in 2016.
