Abacha Was Not Poisoned, Died of Cardiac Arrest, Ex-DSS Operative Claims

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) —A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has claimed that former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, died from cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a woman at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Amachree made the claim in his recently published memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, excerpts of which were published by The Nation on Tuesday.

The retired intelligence officer, who was serving as Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos DSS Command when Abacha died in June 1998, also dismissed long-standing conspiracy theories surrounding the former military ruler’s death.

According to Amachree, Abacha suffered the fatal cardiac episode at about 4:05 a.m. at the Presidential Villa.

He claimed that a pharmacist, who was reportedly in Abuja for a conference, was with Abacha at the time and panicked after discovering that he was unresponsive.

Amachree alleged that the woman had earlier accompanied her elder sister, said to be Abacha’s girlfriend, to the Presidential Villa. He claimed that Abacha’s girlfriend later returned to her hotel, leaving the pharmacist alone with the Head of State.

The former DSS official said the woman later realised that Abacha was no longer responding and found no pulse.

According to him, the woman became frightened and left the villa after asking a security officer to arrange transportation to her hotel.

Amachree claimed that she subsequently travelled to Lagos on an early morning flight before security agencies could question her.

He said that after Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, was informed of the situation, efforts were made to locate the woman, but she had already left Abuja.

Amachree said he was later directed by the DSS headquarters to locate and interrogate her in Lagos.

He claimed that the woman, during questioning, denied any involvement in Abacha’s death and gave an account of what allegedly happened.

Amachree said her account supported his claim that Abacha suffered a cardiac arrest during the encounter and contradicted other theories about the circumstances of his death.

He argued that the account should put to rest the conspiracy theories and conflicting claims that have surrounded Abacha’s death for nearly three decades.

Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death on June 8, 1998, died while in office.

The circumstances surrounding his sudden death have remained a subject of speculation, with various accounts and conspiracy theories emerging over the years. The claims in Amachree’s memoir represent his account of events and have not been independently verified.