The Coroner, Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji, who is presiding over the inquest into the death of Nkanu Adichie‑Esege, son of internationally acclaimed writer Chimamanda Adichie, has fixed May 5 for the hearing of the matter.
The coroner who is presiding over the inquest ordered by the Lagos State Judiciary fixed the date to allow parties in the matter to file and exchange their witness statements on oath.
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The proceedings are now being heard at the JIC Taylor Courthouse, Igbosere, Lagos Island, after the first two preliminary sessions were held at the Magistrates’ Court in Yaba.
At the last sitting of the coroner on February 25, the coroner had adjourned till Tuesday, April 14, for Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, one of the parties in the inquest, to open evidence by bringing its witnesses to give their testimonies, as agreed by all parties.
The coroner had also directed that evidence would be taken in the following order: Euracare, the family of the late Nkanu, and Atlantis Pediatric Hospital (another party in the case).
It was also decided at the time that testimonies of all the witnesses for the parties in the case must be filed in court and exchanged by all counsel before April 14.
But at the resumption of proceedings today, the court observed that none of the counsel had filed and exchanged their witnesses’ statements on oath, as earlier directed.
This effectively stalled proceedings.
Euracare’s new lead counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Taiwo Osipitan, who was appearing before the coroner for the first time, said there was no order given at the last date as to who should file the witnesses’ statements first.
Osipitan, a professor, also informed the court that he intended to file an interlocutory application, seeking a postmortem examination on the deceased’s body, so as to establish the cause of death, as well as for the parents, Dr. Ivara Esege and Chimamanda Adichie-Esege, to release the 22-month-old’s medical records.
The senior counsel argued that the requests ought to be granted before Euracare opens its case, on the basis of a fair hearing.
But, the Coroner noted that this request for autopsy had been addressed at the last sitting, when the lead counsel representing the Esege family, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, pointed out that Section 21(1) of the Coroner Systems Law, permits an inquest to proceed, even without an autopsy done, a position which the coroner and the other parties had earlier accepted.
Magistrate Adetunji added that Euracare’s new counsel had already requested and received records of the earlier proceedings, and that the senior counsel could also request further information by way of a subpoena or other means, without stalling the proceedings.
The court has urged all parties to cooperate with the inquest and file all necessary processes on time and before the next adjourned date.
It added that the inquest was inquisitorial, not adversarial in nature, to enable the grieving family to heal and to avert another occurrence.
On their part, also a professor, and the lead counsel representing Atlantis hospital, Adeniji Kazeem, SAN, (who’s also newly appearing in the matter), said their witnesses’ statements are ready and will be filed after the hearing.
Counsel for the state government, Adebola Araba, also noted that the nature of the testimony given in court will determine what expert witness(es) to present.
Further hearing in the inquest was then fixed for May 5 and 20, and June 3.
Master Nkanu was reportedly admitted into Euracare hospital on January 6, 2026, having been referred from Atlantis hospital for urgent procedures to be done on him.
He died in the early hours of January 7.
Following an investigation into the matter, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria established a prima facie case of medical negligence against three doctors: the Medical Director of Euracare, Dr. Tosin Majekodunmi; the Anaesthesiologist at Euracare, Dr. Titus Ogundare; and the Chief Medical Director of Atlantis Paediatric Hospital, Dr. Atinuke Uwajeh.
The affected doctors were also issued interim suspension orders from medical practice in Nigeria pending the determination of their case by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.
