By Ivara Esege

Our son, Nkanu Nnamdi, died at Euracare Hospital on January 7, 2026. He was 21 months old. My wife was already planning the 2nd birthday party for Nkanu and his twin brother. Nkanu had been referred to Euracare Hospital for diagnostic procedures, including MRI, PICC Line Insertion and Lumbar Puncture. He was to be transferred the following day to John Hopkins Hospital in the United States for treatment. When Nkanu came to Euracare, he was conscious and interactive, with stable vital signs. Less than 24 hours after arriving at Euracare, he was dead. It is putting it mildly to call the loss of Nkanu devastating. We were in a state of shock.

We had lingering trauma from too many burials in our family. Most recently, I buried my younger brother, Andrew. I simply could not bear another burial, especially of my own son.

I should not be burying my son; it is my son who should bury me. We were scheduled to leave Nigeria and frankly, we did not want to stay much longer. We decided to cremate our son and take him with us. I told the Euracare Chief Medical Director of our decision and asked if he could recommend a place in Lagos where we could have the cremation done. He recommended Ebony Funeral Home, where Nkanu was subsequently cremated.

In the beginning, we trusted Euracare. My parents-in-law went to Euracare many years ago, although not for treatment but for regular check-ups. However, we did not know that the ownership and management had since changed. Iwosan Investments Limited now owns Euracare.

We wanted to understand the full picture of what happened to our son. We asked Euracare for Nkanu’s complete medical records and incident reports, which they refused to give to us and this action was our first indication of animosity from Euracare. Euracare promised to conduct a full investigation, but they never did. In a letter dated January 28, 2026, addressed to the Chief Coroner of Lagos, we requested the conduct of an inquest into our son’s death.

An inquest is a public judicial process done to determine all the facts surrounding a death, especially when a death is unusual. The coroner brought to our attention that Euracare Hospital had already requested an inquest and a preliminary meeting had already been held. In their application, Euracare Hospital had stated that Nkanu’s death was unexpected and, in such circumstances, would require an inquest. Since Euracare Hospital had already started the process, we then joined the inquest.

At the first sitting on February 25, 2026, I joined by Zoom from the U.S. It was made clear that the body had been cremated and Euracare Hospital stated, “We are ready to proceed despite the news of cremation.” While discussing the order of presenting evidence, it was agreed that Euracare Hospital should present first, after which we would present. The coroner then proceeded to direct as follows: “Most inquests have the family start first, for a logical sequence, but Euracare have conceded to commence, having applied for the inquest in the first place. Thus, it will be Euracare – family of the deceased – Atlantis Hospital.”

The next inquest sitting was on April 14, 2026. It had been scheduled for Euracare to open its case by calling witnesses. I again joined by Zoom from the U.S. Euracare was not ready to present evidence. There was a lot of dramatic shouting from their counsel. Euracare suddenly claimed that there was no clear directive on which party should go first, which was untrue. Euracare further argued that since our son had been cremated, the inquest could not continue in the absence of a body. The coroner responded to Euracare by saying, “This has already been addressed at a previous sitting…Euracare was the party that initiated the inquest and had previously indicated readiness to participate fully.”

The next sitting was scheduled for May 5, 2026. I was prepared to give evidence in case Euracare again decided not to start as agreed. I flew to Lagos from the U.S. My sister, Anthea, who has been our rock, took time off from work to fly to Lagos and support me. We were then informed that the Attorney General of Lagos had written a letter asking all parties to attend a meeting for restorative justice. This surprised us as we had not asked for nor had we been consulted about restorative justice. The meeting was scheduled for May 5, 2026, the same day as the coroner’s inquest.

This was very worrying as we felt it was done to derail the inquest. However, we were personally assured by the Attorney General that the meeting was merely to make sure that the inquest would not be unnecessarily drawnout. We were also assured that the inquest sitting would hold as planned. On the morning of May 5, 2026, I was at the court, accompanied by my sister, and fully prepared to testify about the death of my first son. Suddenly, a representative of the Attorney General asked the coroner to stop the inquest because the Attorney General had called a meeting.

The coroner asked why she had not been notified of this meeting and the Attorney General’s representative said, “I don’t know. I am just a messenger.” The coroner stated that she should have been informed and asked why such a meeting should be scheduled on the same day as the inquest. She then suspended all proceedings and all future dates of the inquest and walked out of the courtroom. I was stunned. Everything felt so shabby and careless.

Afterwards, our lawyers wrote to the chief coroner to ask for the inquest to continue. A new date was set for June 3, 2026.

On June 3, I joined by Zoom from the U.S. Euracare said they had asked a High Court to stop the inquest completely, and that the inquest must be paused while the High Court proceedings began. Again, Euracare made the strange argument that the inquest could not continue because our son’s body had been cremated. Euracare is, of course, aware that Section 21 of the Coroners System Law of Nigeria specifically empowers a Coroner to conduct an inquest even where a body has been destroyed or cannot be recovered. What is even stranger is that it was Euracare that first applied for an inquest, knowing that a cremation had occurred. Why suddenly backtrack if not that they have realised that they cannot defend what they know to be true?

Euracare then proceeded to make a statement that I consider sacrilegious. Euracare accused my wife and me of committing a crime. Euracare claimed that by cremating Nkanu’s body, we had done a ‘wilful destruction’ to ‘conceal evidence.’

Euracare’s counsel said the following: “What they did is punishable by 15 years imprisonment. The issue is whether somebody who has done something wrong under the law can push for an inquest.” I could not believe what I was hearing. Only a desperate, morallybankrupt person would make such an argument. We did not perform the cremation in secret. It was the Chief Medical Officer of Euracare who recommended where we could get a cremation done. This is clearly an argument made by desperation, but it was deeply painful to me as a father to hear those words.

Our lawyers asked the coroner not to suspend the inquest indefinitely but to give a date for the next sitting. The date given was October 8, 2026, which is not to continue the inquest but to know the status of the High Court. This means that even if the High Court does not stop the inquest, it will still be further delayed. All we are asking for is the comprehensive truth and an acknowledgement of what happened at Euracare. As the coroner said in one of the sittings, “this inquest is inquisitorial and not adversarial, and it is aimed at ascertaining the truth, helping the family heal, and preventing a recurrence.”

October 2026 would be nine months after our son’s loss. If we were dealing with an honest hospital, this inquest might have been concluded by now. We deserve the peace of mind to mourn. It has been a nightmare dealing with Euracare while keeping life as normal as possible for our daughter and for Nkanu’s twin brother and trying to protect my wife from much of this upheaval. On a separate note, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, which is a statutory body that regulates medical practice in Nigeria, set up an Investigative Panel into Nkanu’s death. By a letter dated February 25, 2026, the panel found that the Euracare Chief Medical Director, Dr Tosin Majekodunmi, and the anaesthesiologist who administered sedation on Nkanu at Euracare, Dr Titus Ogundare, have a case of negligence to answer to.

Why is Euracare and its owners, Iwosan Investments, now trying to prevent a public judicial process if not that they have something to hide? We are waiting and hoping that Euracare will not be able to use its wealth and power to stop an inquest. If this is allowed to happen, it will be a mockery and abuse of the entire judicial system. I can only imagine how many other Nigerian families must have suffered a similar fate in silence because they did not have the resources to counter adversarial actions from a powerful hospital. This is not just about us but about making sure that things are done properly for everyone.

Healthcare delivery in Nigeria will not improve otherwise. I never want to see another parent lose their child in such a careless way, from something completely preventable if proper procedure is followed.

Ivara Esege is a board-certified Family Physician and the husband of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. He wrote from the United States.