Fresh details have emerged surrounding the death of the 21-month-old son of writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege, following a brief illness while the family was in Lagos during the Christmas holidays.
The child, identified as Nkanu Nnamdi, reportedly fell ill after developing an infection. Sources familiar with the matter said the parents had already arranged for a full medical evacuation abroad, with a specialist medical team scheduled to transfer him to the United States for further treatment on January 7.
According to the sources, the child was taken to a private medical facility in Victoria Island, Lagos, on January 6, 2026, primarily to undergo medical tests requested by the overseas medical team. He was said to have arrived at the facility in a stable condition.
However, before the planned evacuation could take place, the child’s condition reportedly deteriorated. Individuals close to the family have raised concerns about the medical care provided in the hours before his death, describing it as inadequate and questioning whether established clinical protocols were fully observed.
“This wasn’t an act of God,” one source said, reflecting the views of those who believe the outcome could have been different. “This was a failure of care. If those professionals had done their jobs for just a few hours, that child would be alive today.”
The family has not made a public statement beyond requesting privacy during their period of mourning. Efforts are ongoing to obtain responses from the medical facility involved, as further details continue to emerge.
Chimamanda Adichie Narrative
My son would be alive today if not for an incident at Euracare Hospital on January 6th.
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.
He was to travel to the US the next day, January 7th, accompanied by Travelling Doctors. A team at Johns Hopkins was waiting to receive him in Baltimore. The Hopkins team had asked for a lumbar puncture test and an MRI. The Nigerian team had also decided to put in a 'central line' (used to administer iv medications) in preparation for Nkanu's flight. Atlantis hospital referred us to Euracare Hospital, which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done.
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.
A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive and was quickly resuscitated. But suddenly Nkanu was on a ventilator, he was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone
It turns out that Nkanu was NEVER monitored after being given too much propofol. The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theater, so nobody knows when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive.
How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him? Later, after the 'central line' procedure, the anesthesiologist casually switched off Nkanu's oxygen and again decided to carry him on his shoulder to the ICU!
The anesthesiologist was CRIMINALLY negligent. He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed.
We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day. We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever. It is like living your worst nightmare. I will never survive the loss of my child.
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.