A retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has revealed what he described as the true circumstances surrounding the death of former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
Amachree made the disclosure in his newly released 348-page memoir titled “DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield,” where he recounted his role in the investigation that followed Abacha’s sudden death on June 8, 1998.
According to The Nation, Amachree said the woman who was with the late military ruler when he died was an Igbo pharmacist, who later made a startling statement during interrogation.
Quoting the retired security operative, the woman said: “I did not kill him, he died on top of me.”
Amachree, who was the Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos State State Security Service (SSS) Command at the time, said Abacha died at about 4:05 a.m. on June 8, 1998, at the Aso Villa, Abuja, while in the company of the woman during an intimate encounter.
General Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria as military Head of State from November 1993 until his sudden death in June 1998 at the age of 54. His death sparked years of speculation and conspiracy theories over its cause and the circumstances surrounding it.
Offering his account, Amachree wrote:
“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 further insisted that: “Any other narrative is an act of deceit and a disservice to our countrymen and women.”
The retired DSS officer also disclosed that after witnessing Abacha’s death, the woman immediately boarded the next flight to Lagos before she was later tracked down by security operatives.
Recounting the investigation, Amachree wrote:
“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 revelations are contained in Amachree’s memoir, which chronicles his four decades in Nigeria’s intelligence service and revisits several significant national security events, including the death of General Sani Abacha.