Renowned Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has served a formal legal notice on a private hospital in Lagos, alleging medical negligence and professional misconduct in connection with the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi.
In the notice dated January 10, 2026, lawyers representing Adichie and her partner, Dr. Ivara Esege, accused the hospital, its anaesthesiologist and other medical personnel of breaching their duty of care to their son, Master Nkanu Adichie-Esege, who died in the early hours of January 7, 2026.
According to the notice, the child, born on March 25, 2024, was referred to the Lagos hospital 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 reportedly on standby.
The procedures carried out reportedly included an echocardiogram, brain MRI, insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter and a lumbar puncture, during which intravenous sedation with propofol was administered.
The parents alleged that the child developed sudden and severe complications while being transported to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory following the MRI. They claimed that, despite being under deep sedation, he was transferred between clinical areas in a manner that raised serious concerns about adherence to 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 questions over the appropriateness and cumulative dosing of propofol in a critically ill child, inadequate airway protection, failure to ensure continuous physiological monitoring, and transferring the child without supplemental oxygen or sufficient medical personnel.
The parents also alleged poor availability of resuscitation equipment, delayed response to respiratory or cardiovascular distress, and non-compliance with established paediatric anaesthesia, patient-transfer and safety standards.
Another major complaint was the alleged failure of the hospital to properly disclose the risks and potential side effects of propofol and other anaesthetic agents, which the parents said vitiated the requirement for informed consent.
The solicitors stated that the alleged acts and omissions amount to prima facie breaches of the duty of care, rendering the hospital and involved medical staff liable for medical negligence resulting in the child’s death.
As part of their demands, Adichie and her partner requested certified copies of all medical records relating to their son’s treatment within seven days. The documents sought include admission notes, consent forms, anaesthetic charts, drug administration records, monitoring logs, nursing notes, ICU records, incident reports and the identities of all medical personnel involved.
They also demanded preservation of all relevant physical and electronic evidence, including CCTV footage, monitoring data, pharmacy records, emergency equipment logs, internal communications and any morbidity and mortality reviews.
The lawyers warned that any destruction or alteration of evidence would be treated as obstruction of justice, adding that failure to comply with the demands would compel the parents to pursue all available legal, regulatory and judicial remedies against the hospital and the medical personnel involved.
