A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikoyi has struck out a suit by Eurapharma Care Services Nigeria Limited, operators of Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, seeking to stop a coroner’s inquest into the death of Nkanu Adichie-Esege, son of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Justice Aishat Opesanwo, in her ruling, rejected the hospital’s arguments that the cremation of the child’s body deprived the Coroner of jurisdiction to proceed with the inquiry and that the procedure for receiving evidence from medical personnel violated its right to fair hearing.

The judge held that the Coroner’s authority to conduct the inquest depended on the circumstances surrounding the death and the relevant provisions of the Lagos State Coroners System Law, rather than the continued physical availability of the deceased’s body.

She said the hospital had failed to establish that the conditions empowering the Coroner to conduct the inquiry under Section 15 of the law had not been met.

According to the judge, the law did not require the deceased’s body to remain within the Coroner’s district at the time the inquest was held.

The ruling followed an application by Eurapharma seeking judicial review of decisions made during the proceedings, including the Coroner’s jurisdiction following the cremation and the order in which witnesses would be called to give evidence.

The hospital had argued that proceeding without a body available for post-mortem examination could result in speculative conclusions. It also challenged the direction requiring medical personnel associated with the facilities where Nkanu received treatment to present evidence before the family had formally presented its case.

However, Justice Opesanwo rejected the contention that the absence of the body necessarily rendered the investigation speculative.

“I am not persuaded by the submission made by the applicant’s counsel that the cremation of the body means the inquest and its conclusion will be predicated on speculation and conjecture,” she said.

The judge noted that the inquest had yet to commence formally, describing the hospital’s concerns about its eventual outcome as premature.

“What is obvious is that the applicant is concerned with future occurrences, which is the outcome of the inquest,” she said.

Justice Opesanwo explained that a coroner’s inquest was principally a fact-finding exercise designed to establish the circumstances of a death, rather than a trial to determine criminal guilt or civil liability.

“It is not a trial; no one is on trial in a coroner’s court,” she said.
She added that the process was inquisitorial rather than adversarial and was not designed to apportion blame or penalise any party.

The court also rejected the hospital’s argument that the order in which evidence would be received breached its constitutional right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Justice Opesanwo held that the Coroner had the discretion to determine the sequence in which witness statements and other evidence would be received during the proceedings.

She said disagreement with the exercise of that discretion did not, by itself, establish a breach of fair hearing, adding that the procedural rules governing ordinary civil proceedings did not apply in the same manner to a coroner’s inquest.

The court upheld the preliminary objections raised by the respondents and consequently struck out the hospital’s substantive application.

The decision clears the way for the inquest to proceed, although the circumstances of Nkanu’s death and any questions of professional responsibility remain matters for the appropriate investigative and legal processes.

Nkanu, aged 21 months, died on January 7, 2026, at Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos. His death prompted an investigation by the Lagos State Government into the circumstances surrounding his treatment and demise.

His parents, Adichie and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege, have raised allegations of medical negligence in connection with the treatment their son received. Euracare has denied wrongdoing, maintaining that its medical personnel acted appropriately.

The dispute over the inquest intensified after the child’s body was cremated, with Eurapharma approaching the High Court to challenge the Coroner’s authority to continue proceedings without the possibility of a conventional post-mortem examination.

The hospital also contested the proposed order of witnesses, arguing that requiring its personnel to present evidence first raised concerns about procedural fairness in a case involving allegations against the facility.

The Lagos State Government and the family opposed the application, maintaining that the law permitted an inquest in circumstances where a body had been destroyed or could not be recovered. They also argued that the proceedings were investigative in nature and that the hospital’s application was premature.

The legal dispute has drawn attention to the distinction between investigating the circumstances of a death and determining whether any individual or institution bears legal responsibility.

While a post-mortem examination can provide important evidence about the cause of death, its unavailability does not necessarily prevent investigators from examining medical records, diagnostic results, treatment documentation and other surviving evidence.

The extent to which such material can establish what happened depends on its reliability, completeness and the conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from it.

The Coroner’s inquest is expected to examine the circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death within the scope of the applicable law. Monday’s ruling does not, in itself, amount to a finding that medical negligence occurred or determine the outcome of any separate professional or legal proceedings.