Justice Aishat Opesanwo of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikoyi has fixed October 12, 2026 to deliver a ruling on whether to halt the coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Nkanu, son of celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege. Justice……
Justice Aishat Opesanwo of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikoyi has fixed October 12, 2026 to deliver a ruling on whether to halt the coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Nkanu, son of celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege.
Justice Opesanwo fixed the date on Monday, after hearing arguments for and against the application filed by Eurapharma Care Services Nigeria Limited, operators of Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, where Nkanu allegedly died during medical procedures on January 7, 2026.
Nkanu’s parents asked the Court to dismiss Eurapharma’s suit seeking to halt the coroner’s inquest into the death of their son. Their lead counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, in their preliminary objection described the hospital’s judicial review application as premature, arguing that the coroner had made no decision or determination of right capable of being quashed by the High Court.
Eurapharma is seeking orders of certiorari and prohibition to challenge the coroner’s proceedings and a directive requiring the hospital to commence its evidence in the inquest. The hospital has also challenged the continuation of the inquest following the cremation of Nkanu’s remains, contending that the absence of the body makes the Inquest impossible.
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Citing the provision of Section 21 of the Lagos State Coroners’ System Law, he argued that the law expressly contemplates an inquest where a body has been destroyed or cannot be recovered. He also relied on section 31(1) of the Coroner System Law, particularly the reference to the coroner viewing the body “if any,” contending that the absence of the remains does not, without more, extinguish the coroner’sjurisdiction.
Two more parties in the case, the Lagos State Attorney-General, Lawal Pedro, SAN, and Atlantis Paediatric Hospital Limited, through their counsel, Dr Abiodun Layonu, SAN and Adeniji Kazeem, SAN also urged the court to strike out the suit and allow the inquest to resume.
In his response, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, who appeared for Euracare maintained that the hospital should not be compelled to commence its evidence first before the Coroner while a complainant who has made allegations of medical incompetence against it had not yet led evidence, adding that the proposed order of calling witnesses created a likelihood of breaching the applicant’s right to a fair hearing.
He also relied on Sections 14 and 15 of the Lagos State Coroners System Law, arguing that the Coroner’s jurisdiction was linked to the presence of the deceased’s body within the relevant coroner district, and that because the body had been cremated, a post-mortem examination could no longer be conducted and the cause of death could not be established without speculation.
After hearing the parties, Justice Opesanwo reserved ruling until October 12, 2026.
