Former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has challenged former Chief Security Officer to late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), to produce CCTV footage of Abacha’s final hours if he disputes the account contained in his recently released memoir.
Amachree, author of DSS@40: My Journey Behind the Shield, said Al-Mustapha should present evidence rather than dismissing his claims, insisting that the book underwent official scrutiny before publication.
Speaking during a telephone interview, Amachree said the memoir was vetted and approved by the DSS as part of activities marking the agency’s 40th anniversary.
Enugu Air Breaks Silence on Benin Runway Excursion, Says ‘It Was Not a Crash’
Fuel Subsidy Never Ended, It’s Now N17.5tn Bigger, Dele Oye Slams FG
According to him, the security agency invited him from the United States to attend the book launch, which was attended by senior security officials, state directors of the DSS and members of the diplomatic community.
“The DSS approved the publication. They invited me from the United States for the launch, which was attended by senior officers of the service and members of the diplomatic corps,” he said.
Amachree dismissed Al-Mustapha’s criticism of his account, maintaining that the former army officer should respond with verifiable facts rather than personal attacks.
He also rejected Al-Mustapha’s description of him as “a boy,” arguing that his own career record speaks for itself.
“I was seven years old when Nigeria gained independence,” Amachree said.
“I retired as an Assistant Director, which in army terms is equivalent to a Brigadier, while Al-Mustapha retired as a Major.”
PFIPC: Not One Kobo Was Released for fake presidential agency – Budget Office
He maintained that if Al-Mustapha believes his account of Abacha’s death is inaccurate, he should make public any CCTV footage or other evidence that contradicts the version contained in the memoir.
“If he claims to know what happened during Abacha’s final hours, let him produce the CCTV footage or any other evidence,” Amachree said.
The exchange follows controversy generated by Amachree’s memoir, in which he claimed that Abacha died of a cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a woman at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in June 1998.
Al-Mustapha had dismissed the account as false and criticised Amachree’s version of events, prompting the former DSS officer’s latest response.
