The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), the Chief Coroner and the presiding Coroner handling the inquiry into the death of Master Nkanu Adichie-Esege have asked the State High Court to dismiss a suit filed by Eurapharma Care Services Nigeria Limited seeking to stop the ongoing inquest.
A preliminary objection, dated June 5, 2026, was filed by them in response to a judicial review application brought by the Victoria Island hospital where the 21-month-old son of acclaimed author Chimamanda Adichie and Dr. Ivara Esege reportedly died on January 7, 2026.
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The hospital had earlier secured an interim order from Justice Aishat Opesanwo of the Lagos High Court, Osborne, Ikoyi, temporarily staying the inquest pending determination of its substantive application.
Eurapharma is seeking orders of certiorari and prohibition to quash decisions of the Coroner’s Court and prevent further proceedings.
However, the Attorney-General, Chief Coroner and presiding Coroner argued that the action was incompetent, premature and amounts to an abuse of court process.
In their joint address, the respondents maintained that judicial review could only be invoked where a tribunal acts without jurisdiction or exceeds its statutory powers.
They argued that under the Lagos State Coroners System Law, the Coroner has exclusive authority to investigate suspicious deaths within his jurisdiction and is therefore acting squarely within the law in conducting the inquest.
The respondents also rejected the hospital’s claim that the alleged cremation of the child’s remains deprived the Coroner of jurisdiction, pointing to provisions of the law empowering a Coroner to conduct an inquest even where a body is destroyed or unavailable.
They further noted that no evidence had yet been formally presented before the Coroner on the alleged cremation or the absence of an autopsy report, making the hospital’s application speculative.
They also dismissed complaints over the Coroner’s directive requiring the hospital to call witnesses first, insisting that no breach of fair hearing had occurred since the hospital had not been denied the opportunity to present evidence or cross-examine witnesses.
The respondents urged the court to strike out the suit, describing it as an attempt to sidestep the statutory process for investigating suspicious deaths.
Justice Opesanwo has adjourned the matter to September 28, 2026, for the hearing of all preliminary objections.
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