The controversy surrounding the death of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr Ivara Esege’s 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi Esege, has intensified following a detailed rebuttal of Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital’s recent statement.
In a press release, the child’s aunt, Dr Anthea Esege Nwandu, addressed what she described as inconsistencies and falsehoods in Euracare’s account of the circumstances surrounding her nephew’s death at the hospital’s facility. Euracare had issued its statement on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Dr Nwandu, a dual board-certified Internal Medicine physician with three decades of clinical experience in Nigeria and the United States, questioned the hospital’s assertion that there were inaccuracies in the family’s account.
“In their press statement, Euracare claims that there are inaccuracies in the account of how my nephew passed. Which inaccuracies exactly?” she asked.
In her response, Dr Nwandu directly challenged several claims made by the hospital, contrasting them with what she called “the documented truth of the situation.”
She disputed Euracare’s claim that the child had received care at two paediatric centres before arriving at its facility. According to her, “This is false. He was in one hospital before coming to Euracare for the procedures.”
Euracare also stated that it provided care “in line with established clinical protocols and internationally accepted medical standards,” a claim Dr Nwandu strongly rejected. She outlined what she said were multiple departures from international standards of care.
“International standards demand that a child on oxygen who is given sedation must have continuous oxygen therapy. Did Euracare do this? No! They confirmed this verbally to me when I went to the hospital to question the doctors,” she said.
She added, “International standards demand that the child should have had continuous monitoring of oxygen levels in his blood. Did Euracare do this? No.”
According to Dr Nwandu, further lapses included the absence of continuous monitoring of pulse and respiration, and the failure to accompany the child with resuscitative equipment during transfers within the hospital.
“International standards demand continuous monitoring of pulse and respiration. Did Euracare do this? No,” she stated.
She also questioned whether proper documentation was possible under the circumstances described. “Since there was no monitoring, is it possible to accurately document when the child stopped breathing or for how long he was pulseless before he was resuscitated? No.”
Dr Nwandu further criticised what she described as the manner in which the child was physically handled after sedation. “Is it international standard for an anesthesiologist to carry a child post-sedation on his shoulder, unable to visually see the child, with absolutely no monitoring, while insisting that he alone would be in the elevator with the child? No,” she said.
She also alleged that, during the transfer to the intensive care unit, the child’s oxygen was disconnected. “To transfer the child to the ICU, the anesthesiologist disconnected his oxygen and again carried him on his shoulder. Is that standard practice? No.”
In the press release, Dr Nwandu asserted that her nephew was medically stable at the time of the incident and had been scheduled for an evacuation flight to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Dr Anthea Esege Nwandu is board-certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Euracare has said it is reviewing the matter, as scrutiny continues over the hospital’s handling of the case.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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