Award-winning Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has publicly accused Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos, of frustrating efforts to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, through a coroner’s inquest.
Adichie made the allegations in a strongly worded letter addressed to the Chairman of the hospital’s Board of Directors, which she subsequently published on her Instagram page on Saturday.
The acclaimed novelist said she decided to release the letter publicly because she could no longer remain silent about what she described as attempts to hinder the search for truth regarding her son’s death.
Nkanu, one of Adichie’s twin sons, died on January 7, 2026, following what she described as a brief illness and medical treatment at Euracare Hospital.
In the letter, Adichie raised a series of allegations against the hospital, including claims of medical negligence, incomplete and withheld medical records, disputed documentation of the cause of death, and efforts to delay or halt a judicial inquiry into the incident.
At the heart of the dispute is an ongoing coroner’s inquest, which Adichie said was established to determine the exact circumstances that led to her son’s death.
According to the writer, the hospital initially applied for the inquest but later adopted actions that she believes were aimed at slowing down or obstructing the process.
She further alleged that Euracare had approached a High Court seeking to stop the inquest from proceeding.
“Most egregiously, Euracare is now asking a High Court to stop the inquest. An inquest is a public judicial inquiry designed to establish the circumstances surrounding a death. It is not a trial. It is not a claim for damages. It is simply a search for the truth,” Adichie stated in the letter.
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The renowned author also alleged that shortly after Nkanu’s death, the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr. Tosin Majekodunmi, admitted that mistakes had been made during the treatment process.
According to her, Majekodunmi visited her family’s residence in Ikoyi on January 8, a day after the child’s death, and accepted responsibility for errors allegedly committed by the anesthesiologist involved in the procedure.
“The day after Nkanu died, on January 8, the medical director visited our home in Ikoyi and admitted the errors made by the anesthesiologist. He accepted full responsibility. He also said that he would fire the anesthesiologist, Dr. Titus Ogundare,” she alleged.
Adichie claimed that the hospital’s position later changed significantly from the admissions allegedly made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
She further alleged that Dr. Majekodunmi informed her that excessive sedation played a role in the medical emergency that preceded her son’s death.
“On January 6, at Euracare hospital, the Medical Director, Dr. Tosin Majekodunmi, whom I considered a friend and trusted as a physician, told me that the anesthesiologist had given my son Nkanu ‘too much propofol.’ Those were his exact words to me after I saw him rushing into the Cath lab where Nkanu was,” she wrote.
The author alleged that her son was not adequately monitored after sedation and that complications arising from the procedure eventually resulted in his death.
She also accused the hospital of failing to provide complete medical documentation despite repeated assurances to her family that all relevant reports and records would be made available.
According to Adichie, when records were eventually released, they were incomplete and failed to provide a full account of her son’s treatment.
Another major point of contention raised in the letter concerns the cause of death listed on Nkanu’s death certificate.
Adichie challenged the hospital’s conclusion that her son died from bacterial and fungal meningitis, insisting that there was no medical evidence to support such a diagnosis.
“We were later startled to see that Euracare had indicated that his cause of death was bacterial and fungal meningitis. This is inaccurate. There was no medical evidence to make such a claim on his death certificate,” she stated.
The writer also criticised the language used by the hospital’s legal representatives, particularly their reported description of her son’s death as a “dispute.”
“Euracare lawyers wrote a letter referring to our son’s death as a ‘dispute.’ This kind of language is baffling in its heartlessness,” she said.