A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has claimed that late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, died of a cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a woman at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, dismissing long standing conspiracy theories that the former military ruler was poisoned.
The claims are contained in Amachree’s newly released memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, excerpts of which were published by The Nation on Tuesday.
Amachree, who served as Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos DSS Command when Abacha died in June 1998, said the incident occurred in the early hours of June 8, 1998, while the military ruler was with a woman inside the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
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According to him, the woman, described as a pharmacist attending a conference in Abuja, had accompanied her elder sister, who was allegedly Abacha’s girlfriend, to the Presidential Villa that night.
He claimed that after the elder sister returned to her hotel, Abacha remained with the younger woman.
“At approximately 2.40 a.m., shortly after Gen. Useni left, Abacha’s girlfriend arrived at the Aso Rock Guest House from the Nicon Noga Hilton Hotel.
“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,” he wrote.
Amachree alleged that at about 4:05 a.m., while they were being intimate, the woman realised Abacha had suddenly become unresponsive.
“She called out to him, but he was unresponsive and stiff. She checked his pulse; there was none,” he wrote.
According to the retired intelligence officer, the woman panicked, got dressed and requested a soldier on duty to arrange transportation back to her hotel, claiming Abacha had instructed that she be taken back.
He alleged that she later boarded an early morning flight to Lagos before security officials became aware of what had happened.
Amachree said Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al Mustapha, was informed of the Head of State’s condition around 5 a.m., after which efforts began to trace the woman.
He claimed he was subsequently directed by DSS headquarters to locate and interrogate her in Lagos.
Recalling the interrogation, Amachree said the woman immediately denied any wrongdoing.
“I did not kill him, he died on top of me,” he quoted her as saying.
“My team located and brought her to my office. I interrogated her myself. 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,” he added.
Amachree argued that the woman’s account supports his conclusion that Abacha suffered a coitus induced cardiac arrest, insisting it debunks numerous theories that have circulated about the former military ruler’s sudden death.
“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,” he wrote.
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General Sani Abacha seized power in November 1993 following a military coup and ruled Nigeria until his sudden death on June 8, 1998.
His unexpected death at the Presidential Villa has remained one of the country’s biggest political mysteries, spawning numerous theories over the past 28 years, including allegations that he was poisoned by foreign agents or died after consuming substances brought by foreign visitors.
Successive governments have never officially endorsed any of the competing accounts, and Amachree’s version represents the latest contribution to the long running debate over the circumstances surrounding Abacha’s death.
