By Adedapo Adesanya

The coroner’s inquest into the death of 21-month-old Nkanu Adichie-Esege, son of renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, suffered a major setback on Wednesday after Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital informed the coroner’s court that it had obtained an order of the Lagos State High Court staying further proceedings in the probe.

The matter came before Coroner Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji at Court 9, Igbosere Magisterial District, Yaba, Lagos, and was scheduled for the commencement of witness’ testimony.

Counsel to Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), told the court that the hospital had initiated judicial review proceedings challenging, among other issues, the jurisdiction of the Coroner’s Court to conduct the inquest in the absence of the deceased’s body.

He disclosed that the High Court had granted leave for the judicial review application and ordered that the leave operate as a stay of proceedings pending the determination of the suit.

The senior advocate also informed the court that although the Lagos State Attorney-General’s Office denied seeing the originating processes from the High Court, proof of service was available.

Responding on behalf of the family, Mr Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) confirmed receipt of both the originating processes and the High Court order.

While acknowledging the obligation of all parties to comply with court orders, he informed the coroner that the family had already filed four witness statements on oath, including that of Dr Ivara Esege, as well as statements from independent medical experts from Nigeria and the United States, who are expected to testify at the inquest.

Mr Pinheiro urged the court not to adjourn the matter indefinitely, but to a definite date after the court vacation to enable parties to report on developments in the High Court proceedings.

He also highlighted the need for transparency and public confidence in the fact-finding process, saying, “He who is innocent does not fear an open inquest.”

Counsel representing Atlantis Paediatric Hospital supported the request for a definite adjournment rather than an indefinite postponement.

Following submissions by counsel, the Coroner adjourned the matter until October 8, 2026, for a report on the status of the High Court proceedings.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

About $50 million has been promised by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, through its First Response Fund (FRF), to support the response to the ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak.

A statement from the organisation made available to Business Post on Monday said up to $40 million would be available to enable accelerated access to investigational doses and, eventually, approved vaccines, while a further $10 million would support outbreak response and protection of routine immunisation services in impacted countries.

“We need to act now to ensure that, once one or more vaccine candidates are ready, manufacturers are in a position to start producing doses at scale,” the chief executive of Gavi, Dr Sania Nishtar, was quoted as saying.

“Leveraging this allocation, Gavi will work closely with CEPI and partners to design the right incentives to achieve this goal, exploring all options, including potential Advance Purchase Commitments.

“This effort, alongside ensuring emergency funds are on hand to support outbreak response and protect routine immunisation services in the communities impacted, is exactly what our First Response Fund was designed for,” Dr Nishtar added.

The First Response Fund is the only globally approved mechanism that allows “at-risk” financing for scaled-up production of vaccines under development. This means Gavi is able to make vital early investments even when development outcomes are uncertain.

The $40 million in immediate surge financing that has been approved today will enable manufacturers of the leading candidates of a vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus to directly commit to high-capacity manufacturing.

This, in turn, will ensure that, as soon as clinical trials demonstrate positive outcomes, investigational vaccine doses could be deployed rapidly to support outbreak response.

Looking to the longer-term, Gavi will also provide incentives for manufacturers to adopt the fastest pathways towards WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) and/or WHO Prequalification (PQ), which are critical global approvals that will enable the rapid use of these vaccines in future emergencies.

In the coming weeks, Gavi will finalise the design of a financial mechanism that leverages the $40 million FRF allocation to achieve these vaccine access goals, in close partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) as well as WHO, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and UNICEF.

The final design will take into account the characteristics of individual vaccine candidates and the needs of their manufacturers and may include mechanisms such as Advance Purchase Commitments. Work will also be undertaken to ensure successful candidates from African-based vaccine manufacturers can benefit from accelerated support through Gavi’s African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) initiative.

In addition to these investments, Gavi will also immediately release US$ 10 million to support countries and partners with outbreak response.

This funding will support implementation of national outbreak response plans, including targeted investments to protect routine immunisation, protect health care workers and ensure readiness for future vaccines. Gavi will work closely with countries, partners including Africa CDC, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, and donors to ensure these investments complement other efforts.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria is considering flight restrictions and tighter border surveillance to prevent Ebola outbreaks from spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, and South Sudan into the country.

The move was discussed during a high-level strategic meeting held in Lagos on Thursday, where top government officials reviewed Nigeria’s Ebola preparedness and response framework amid growing concerns over outbreaks in parts of Africa.

Among those present at the meeting were Mr Jide Idris, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC); Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior; Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu; and Mr Akin Abayomi, Lagos State Commissioner for Health.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Gbajabiamila said President Tinubu had been fully briefed on the situation in the affected countries and assured Nigerians that the federal government would take all necessary steps to prevent any outbreak in Nigeria.

“We have a health scare, which is Ebola, and we all know what happened the last time. The cases are getting worse, internationally and worldwide, and we don’t want to leave anything to chance,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.

He explained that several preventive measures were being considered by the government, including restricting flights from countries affected by the outbreak.

“There were three or four areas we looked at. We looked at the issue of the possibility, as of now, of restricting flights from countries of interest. We looked at the possibilities of isolating passengers who may exhibit symptoms of Ebola,” he said.

“We looked at the possibility of isolating or using the cargo terminal to deal with passengers that are coming in from those areas, and of course, putting certain things in place, protocols in place; we believe that prevention is better than cure, and where some passengers slip through the cracks, then we must have ways of dealing with situations such as that.”

On his part, Mr Tunji-Ojo said the government had already directed that all entry points into Nigeria be placed under strict surveillance.

According to him, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) would collaborate closely with the NCDC to strengthen early detection and rapid response mechanisms.

The NCDC Director-General also disclosed that preparedness plans had been activated across the 36 states of the federation, while public awareness campaigns would be intensified to educate citizens on preventive measures and response protocols.

The renewed alert comes years after the devastating 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, regarded as the deadliest in history, which claimed more than 4,500 lives across the region.