A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has offered a fresh account of the final moments of Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, claiming the late military ruler died of a cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Amachree, who served as Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos DSS Command at the time of Abacha’s death in June 1998, made the disclosure in his newly released memoir, titled, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield.
Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death in June 1998, has remained at the centre of numerous controversies and conspiracy theories over the circumstances surrounding his passing.
According to excerpts of the book published by The Nation, Amachree said Abacha died around 4:05 a.m. in the presence of a woman during an intimate encounter at the Presidential Villa. He alleged that the woman later fled the scene and boarded the first available flight to Lagos.
The retired DSS officer further claimed that the woman had arrived at Aso Rock on the day of the incident with her older sister, whom he described as Abacha’s girlfriend. According to him, the older sister left her younger sibling alone with the Head of State before returning to her hotel.
“At approximately 2.40 am, shortly after Gen. Useni left, Abacha’s girlfriend, an Igbo lady (name withheld), arrived at the Aso Rock Guest House from the Nicon Nogs Hilton Hotel,” the book stated.
“With her was her younger sister, a pharmacist who was in Abuja for a conference. The Head of State had just bought his girlfriend a new SUV, and they decided to stop by to say hello to ‘Oga’.
“Abacha was taken with the younger sister, and after a short while, the girlfriend returned to the hotel, leaving the pharmacist alone with the Head of State.
“At about 4.05 am, as they were getting intimate, the pharmacist realized Abacha had stopped moving. She called out to him, but he was unresponsive and stiff. She checked his pulse; there was none.
“In a state of panic, she quickly dressed and left the guest house, telling the soldier in guard duty that ‘Oga’ had asked for a car to take her back to her hotel.
“The soldier, unaware of the gravity of the situation, promptly arranged for her transportation. She returned to the Hilton, and after telling her sister what had happened, was quickly driven to the Abuja Airport to catch the 7.am Okada Airline flight to Lagos.
“This is the window Major Al-Mustapha missed. When he was finally informed of Abacha’s instability at 5 am, he asked who had been with the General. He was told about the girlfriend’s younger sister, whom they had just dropped off at the Hilton.
“The State Security Service (SSS) was immediately informed and went to the Hilton to arrest the girlfriend, but the pharmacist they urgently needed was already on her way to Lagos.”
Amachree also claimed that he later interrogated the woman in Ogudu, Lagos, following instructions from the Director of Operations at the DSS national headquarters.
According to him, the first words she uttered during the interrogation were: “I did not kill him, he died on top of me.”
He said her account contradicted the conspiracy theories that have persisted over the years regarding Abacha’s death.
“My team located and brought her to my office. I interrogated her myself,” he said.
“The first thing she said to me was: ‘I did not kill him, he died on top of me.’ After her detailed account, I called the Director in Abuja, and she was immediately flown back.
“The lady pharmacist’s account, on whom Abacha apparently had a coitus-induced cardiac arrest, remains the true position, and puts an end to the conspiracy theories and half-truths that have gone viral.”
Abacha died on June 8, 1998, after serving as Nigeria’s military Head of State for nearly five years. His death came less than a month before the death of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, widely regarded as the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, who died in government custody while campaigning for the restoration of his mandate.
