Lagos State's Attorney General and Chief Coroner have asked the High Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Europharmacare and Services Nigeria Limited, the operator behind the hospital at the centre of the case. The suit seeks to stop a coroner's inquest into the January 2026 death of the 21-month-old son of the celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege.
In their application, the state officials argued that the hospital's lawsuit is premature, incompetent and an abuse of the court process. They urged the court to strike it out, contending that the legal challenge was an improper attempt to derail an investigation that falls squarely within the authority of the coroner's court.
Central to the state's position is the claim that the coroner's court holds exclusive statutory authority to investigate suspicious deaths. The authorities maintained that the coroner is acting well within its legal jurisdiction in opening the inquest, and that the hospital's bid to halt the process cuts against that established mandate.
Addressing questions about the practicalities of the case, the authorities clarified that an inquest can still proceed even if a body has been cremated or is otherwise unavailable. That position is significant in a matter where the handling and availability of the child's remains have become points of contention between the parties.
The state officials also pushed back against accusations that the proceedings amounted to an unfair hearing. They noted that no formal evidence regarding the alleged cremation or any missing autopsy report had actually been presented to the coroner at this stage, undercutting, in their view, the hospital's complaints about how the inquest was being conducted.
The presiding judge has adjourned the matter until 28 September 2026. On that date, the court is expected to hear the preliminary objections and decide whether the hospital's effort to stop the inquest should be struck out, a ruling that will determine whether the investigation into the toddler's death can move forward.