‘Ignore His Lies’ – Al-Mustapha Dismisses Ex-DSS Officer’s Account Of Abacha’s Death
Former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), has dismissed claims by former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, on the circumstances surrounding the late military ruler’s death.
Al-Mustapha spoke on Saturday while addressing journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference held at Arewa House in Kaduna.
He was reacting to renewed public attention on Amachree’s memoir, The Shadow Warrior, in which the retired DSS officer gave his account of the events leading to Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998.
Naijaonpoint recalls that Amachree had claimed that a woman described as Abacha’s girlfriend arrived at the Aso Rock Guest House in Abuja in the early hours of the day he died.
He said she was accompanied by her younger sister, a pharmacist who was in Abuja for a professional conference.
Amachree said the younger woman was later left alone with Abacha after her sister returned to the hotel.
He claimed that at about 4.05 am, the woman noticed that the former Head of State had become unresponsive and could no longer detect a pulse.
The retired DSS official said the woman panicked, left the guest house and told the soldier on duty that Abacha had requested a vehicle to return her to the hotel.
Rejecting the account, Al-Mustapha described it as false, alleging that the memoir was written based on the instructions of some unnamed persons.
“The boy was asked by others to write those lies. I have all the CCTV footage of what happened in my custody, so what he said is not true,” he said.
Al-Mustapha claimed to possess evidence that contradicted Amachree’s account but did not disclose further details or indicate whether he would make the evidence public.
He urged Nigerians to disregard the claims, saying it was wrong to make allegations against someone who was no longer alive to defend himself.
“Just ignore his lies. It’s bad to say such things about someone who is dead,” he added.
Abacha seized power in a military coup on November 17, 1993, and served as Nigeria’s Head of State until his death at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on June 8, 1998.
Although the Federal Government announced that he died after a brief illness, the circumstances surrounding his death have remained the subject of public debate, with former military officers, intelligence personnel, diplomats and political figures giving differing accounts over the years through books, interviews and public statements.
Al-Mustapha, who served as Abacha’s Chief Security Officer throughout his administration, has consistently defended the late military ruler and challenged accounts he believes misrepresent the government or events of that era.
Al-Mustapha had always maintained that many allegations against the Abacha administration were politically motivated and unsupported by credible evidence.
