Dennis Amachree, a former assistant director of the Department of State Services (DSS), has shared his account of the final moments of Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s former head of state.
Abacha was Nigeria’s military ruler from November 1993 to June 1998.
His death while in office has long been shrouded in controversy and conspiracy theories.
Accounts of human rights abuses and iron-fisted rule continue to define the Abacha era.
Amachree’s Account
According to The Nation, Amachree gave his version of Abacha’s final moments in his new book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield.
Amachree, who was the assistant director of operations and intelligence at the Lagos DSS command at the time of Abacha’s death, said the late military leader died in the presence of a woman during an intimate encounter at about 4:05 a.m. at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
He added that the woman fled the scene and boarded the next flight to Lagos.
The retired DSS officer said the woman and her older sister, who was Abacha’s girlfriend, had arrived at Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power, on the day of the incident.
Amachree said Abacha’s girlfriend left her younger sister at the villa with the late general.
“At approximately 2:40 a.m., shortly after Gen. Useni left, Abacha’s girlfriend, an Igbo lady (name withheld), 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.
“At about 4:05 a.m., as they were getting intimate, the pharmacist realised 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 on 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 her transportation. She returned to the Hilton and, after telling her sister what had happened, was quickly driven to Abuja Airport to catch the 7:00 a.m. Okada Air flight to Lagos.
“This was the window Major Al-Mustapha missed. When he was finally informed of Abacha’s condition at 5:00 a.m., 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 said he interrogated the woman in Ogudu, Lagos, following a call from the director of operations at the DSS national headquarters.
During the interrogation, the retired DSS assistant director said the pharmacist’s first words were: “I did not kill him; he died on top of me.”
He added that the woman’s account contradicted the conspiracy theories and “half-truths” — including claims involving “imported Indian girls and poisoned apples” — that have surrounded Abacha’s death.
“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.
“The lady pharmacist’s account, on whom Abacha apparently suffered 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 barely a month before the death of MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Abiola was in prison under the Abacha regime on allegations of insurrection and treason following the annulment of the presidential election.
