Dennis Amachree, a former assistant director of the Department of State Services (DSS), has shared his account of the final moments of Sani Abacha, ex-head of state.
Abacha was Nigeria’s military ruler from November 1993 to
June 1998.
His passing on the throne has been shrouded in controversy
and conspiracy theories.
Accounts of human rights abuses and an iron-clad rule
continue to trail the Abacha era.
AMACHREE’S ACCOUNT
According to The Nation, Amachree gave his version of
Abacha’s final moments in his new book titled: ‘DSS @40: My journey behind the
shield’.
Amachree, who was assistant director of operations and
intelligence at the Lagos DSS command at the time of Abacha’s demise, said the
late military leader passed on in the presence of a lady during an intimate
affair, around 4:05am, at the presidential villa in Abuja.
He added that the lady fled the scene and immediately hopped
on the next flight to Lagos.
The retired DSS staffer said the lady 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 am, shortly after Gen. Useni left,
Abacha’s girlfriend, an Igbo lady (name withheld), arrived at the Aso Rock
Guest House from the Nicon Nogs Hilton Hotel,” excerpts from the book read.
“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 am, as they were getting intimate, the
pharmacist realized 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 in 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 for her transportation. She returned to the Hilton, and after
telling her sister what had happened, was quickly driven to the Abuja Airport
to catch the 7.am Okada Airline flight to Lagos.
“This is the window Major Al-Mustapha missed. When he was
finally informed of Abacha’s instability at 5 am, 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 lady in Ogudu, Lagos,
following a call from the director of operations at DSS national headquarters.
During the grilling, the retired DSS assistant director said
the first statement made by the pharmacist was: “I did not kill him, he died on
top of me.”
He added that the lady’s account contradicted the
“conspiracy theories and half-truths” — including those on “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,” he said.
“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
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.”
Abacha died barely a month before the passing of MKO Abiola,
winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Abiola was in prison custody during the Abacha junta for
alleged insurrection and treason following the annulment of the presidential
election.
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