‘The Voice Nigeria’ contestant Ifunanya Nwangene dies after being bitten by snake, sparking anger over health care provisions

By Nimi Princewill, CNN

Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) — Ifunanya Nwangene, a budding singer who captivated audiences with her performance of Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” on “The Voice Nigeria,” has died from a snake bite. She was 26.

The incident occurred at her home in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Saturday when she was bitten on the wrist by a cobra while sleeping, according to Sam Ezugwu, the leader of the Amemuso Choir, of which she was a member.

Footage circulating on social media shows a snake handler removing a medium-sized snake from her apartment. Two snakes were extracted in total, Ezugwu said.

“She died in my hands,” said her closest friend, Paschal Nworgu.

Nworgu told CNN he was by her bedside at the hospital she visited after a nearby clinic, where she’d initially sought treatment, informed her that they had no antivenom.

Nworgu said that he’d arrived at the hospital, Federal Medical Center, Jabi, with Ezugwu at around noon on Saturday, two hours after receiving a WhatsApp message from Nwangene informing him that a snake had bitten her.

Upon their arrival, Nworgu said, they’d met her gasping for breath as doctors tried to stabilize her. “She was not talking. She was only giving hand gestures,” Nworgu said.

Ezugwu said that, although Nwangene received one necessary antivenom at Federal Medical Center, Jabi, another needed for her treatment was unavailable at the facility.

“Unfortunately, the one they injected her (with) was the last dose left in the pharmacy of the hospital, so they requested us to buy more,” he told CNN.

The Federal Medical Center, Jabi has disputed that it ran out of antivenom and stood by the care its staff provided.

Ezugwu said he went in search of the antivenom, only to learn of Nwangene’s death moments later.

The hospital said in a statement Sunday that staff had “acted promptly and with the utmost care” upon Nwagene’s arrival, but it said she was suffering from severe neurotoxic complications.

“Our medical staff provided immediate and appropriate treatment, including resuscitation efforts, intravenous fluids, intranasal oxygen, and the administration of polyvalent snake antivenom,” the statement added.

However, Nwagene “experienced a sudden deterioration” just before being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, the hospital said, adding that staff tried CPR and “other life-saving measures,” but were unable to save her.

“We stand by the quality of care and dedication our team demonstrates daily. The claims of non-availability of anti-snake venom and inadequate response are unfounded and do not reflect the reality of the situation,” the hospital statement said.

‘A rising star’

The Amemuso Choir mourned the loss of Nwangene, describing her as “a rising star” who “was on the cusp of sharing her incredible talent with the world.”

Ezugwu paid tribute to her as “an embodiment of music,” highlighting her versatility in both classical and pop genres. Nworgu, who often performed alongside her, shared that one of her biggest dreams was to sing on Broadway.

Recently, Nwangene had completed French classes and left her job as an architect to focus on her music career, Nworgu said.

“I feel dead, I can’t count how many times I’ve broken down,” he said, calling her death “the most traumatizing thing of my life.”

Health care criticisms

Nwangene’s death has sparked widespread outrage among Nigerians, many expressing their discontent with the country’s health care system.

Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, wrote on X: “The tragic death of Ifunanya Nwangene from snake bite is a reminder of the poor state of healthcare in Nigeria. Emergency medical care in this country is terrible. Her death isn’t due to spiritual attack, it’s as a result of failure of get quick care.”

In response to the public outcry, Nigeria’s health ministry shared the statement from the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi expressing condolences to Nwangene’s family.

Last month, Nigeria’s Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate acknowledged that the country’s health care system faces “systemic challenges in ensuring consistent quality of care and patient safety” and announced the formation of a national task force to address these issues.

The creation of this task force came after widespread outrage over the death of renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 21-month-old son at a Lagos hospital. The novelist’s legal representatives accused the hospital of negligence, a claim that the hospital has denied.

“Snake bite is a neglected public health issue in many tropical and subtropical countries,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that more than 5 million people are bitten by snakes each year, resulting in about 100,000 deaths annually.

“Most of these occur in Africa, Asia and Latin America,” the WHO said. It noted in a 2018 report that there had been concerns about the “low availability of safe, effective antivenom immunoglobulin products for the Sub-Saharan African region.”

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