A retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has claimed that former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, died during an intimate encounter with a woman in the early hours of June 8, 1998, challenging decades-old conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances of his death.
Amachree made the claim in his newly released 348-page memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, where he recounted his role in the investigation that followed Abacha’s sudden death.
According to the retired intelligence officer, Abacha suffered what he described as a coitus-induced cardiac arrest at about 4:05 a.m. at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa Guest House in Abuja.
He said the woman, whom he identified only as a pharmacist, was later traced to Lagos and interrogated after the DSS received information that she had left Abuja shortly after the incident.
“The first thing she said to me was, ‘I did not kill him, he died on top of me,’” Amachree wrote, adding that after obtaining her account, he contacted the DSS Director of Operations in Abuja, who directed that she be brought back to the Federal Capital Territory.
Amachree, who was Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos State SSS Command at the time, said his account represented the true sequence of events and should help address years of speculation over Abacha’s death.
He dismissed several theories surrounding the former ruler’s death, including claims that he was poisoned with an apple, assassinated through a poisoned handshake or killed through a foreign intelligence operation, saying they were not supported by evidence.
According to the memoir, Abacha’s girlfriend had arrived at the Aso Rock Guest House with her younger sister, a pharmacist who was in Abuja for a conference. Amachree claimed that after the girlfriend returned to her hotel, the pharmacist remained alone with the Head of State.
He alleged that the pharmacist later noticed that Abacha had become unresponsive and, after checking his pulse and finding no sign of life, informed a soldier on duty that the Head of State had requested transportation back to her hotel before leaving on an early morning flight to Lagos.
Amachree said the DSS later traced her to an address in Ogudu, Lagos, where she was arrested and questioned.
He argued that the account filled what he described as a “missing window” in the timeline presented by Abacha’s former Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha.
Al-Mustapha has consistently maintained that Abacha’s health deteriorated after he shook hands with a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s entourage during an official visit, a claim that has been interpreted by some as suggesting poisoning.
Amachree, however, said the account did not explain the period between the departure of senior military officers from the Villa and the discovery of Abacha’s condition.
The retired DSS officer also disputed other explanations previously advanced by public figures and foreign reports, including those linked to former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, General Jeremiah Useni; military physician Brigadier-General Oviemo Ovadje; former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode; former United States National Security Adviser Susan Rice; and some foreign media reports.
He said some accounts attributed Abacha’s death to existing health conditions, while others alleged poisoning or foreign involvement, but maintained that the account he obtained from the pharmacist remained the most credible explanation.
Amachree said the controversy surrounding Abacha’s death reflected a wider problem of misinformation and limited accountability in Nigeria’s political history, arguing that historical records should be based on verifiable evidence rather than speculation.
Abacha ruled Nigeria from November 17, 1993, until his death on June 8, 1998, after taking power from the Interim National Government led by Chief Ernest Shonekan.
His administration was marked by allegations of human rights abuses, the detention of political opponents and the suppression of pro-democracy movements.
His death occurred about a month before the death in custody of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, who died on July 7, 1998.
Before his death, Abacha was widely believed to be preparing to transform from military ruler into a civilian president through a transition programme in which all five registered political parties endorsed him as their sole presidential candidate.
The move prompted the late former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Bola Ige, to describe the parties as “the five fingers of a leprous hand.”
Amachree concluded that Abacha’s death was a reminder that political power is temporary, saying that no level of authority or security can shield any leader from mortality.
