The Lagos State Government has opened an investigation into the deaths of nine-month-old identical twins who died about 24 hours after receiving routine immunisation at a primary healthcare centre in the Ajangbadi area of Ojo Local Government Area.
State health officials say a post-mortem examination and toxicology tests are already underway to establish what led to the deaths, adding that the findings will be made public once the process is complete.
In an interview, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, Ibrahim Mustafa, said the investigation began almost immediately after the incident was reported, well before it began circulating widely online.
“As soon as this happened, the Lagos State Government started looking into it,” Mr Mustafa said. “That was shortly after Christmas.”
No evidence linking vaccines so far
Mr Mustafa said there is, so far, no evidence suggesting that the vaccines administered were responsible for the twins’ deaths, noting that routine immunisations are carried out daily across Lagos and the rest of the country.
“We give vaccines every day. This has been going on for decades,” he said. “At this point, there’s nothing to show that the vaccines caused what happened. Still, our hearts go out to the parents. Losing children is something no family should have to experience.”
He confirmed that the police are involved as part of the investigation and that an autopsy has already been completed. Results, he said, are expected within the coming week.
Beyond the autopsy, Mr Mustafa said toxicology tests are also being conducted in response to concerns raised by the twins’ father. Some samples may need to be sent outside Nigeria for further analysis, though officials say they are working to avoid unnecessary delays.
The final report, he added, will include details of the specific vaccines administered to the twins and the timing of the immunisation.
“The post-mortem and toxicology results will help us understand exactly what happened,” he said. “Once everything is concluded, the public will be informed.”
Public attention intensified after the twins’ father, Promise Samuel, posted a video on TikTok alleging that his children became ill shortly after receiving routine immunisation on December 24, 2025, and died the following day.
In the video, Mr Samuel said the twins appeared unusually weak after the injections and stopped eating, playing, or responding as they normally would.
“They couldn’t eat, they couldn’t play. They were just weak,” he said.
He said a nurse at the health facility advised him to give the children paracetamol if they developed a fever. Despite following the advice, he said their condition continued to worsen.
“They died on the 25th. Both of them died at the same time,” he said.
Vaccine safety concerns resurface
The father’s claims sparked widespread reactions online, with many Nigerians questioning vaccine safety and the handling of immunisation programmes.
Health authorities have since reiterated that millions of children are vaccinated every year in Nigeria against diseases such as polio, measles, and chickenpox, and that serious adverse reactions remain rare.
For now, Lagos State officials say they are awaiting the outcome of medical and forensic investigations before drawing any conclusions.
