Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to late military ruler General Sani Abacha, has dismissed claims that the former Head of State died during an intimate encounter with a woman, insisting he possesses CCTV footage of Abacha’s final moments.
Al-Mustapha made the remarks while speaking with journalists in Kaduna, describing recent claims by retired Department of State Services (DSS) operative Dennis Amachree as false.
According to him, the account published in Amachree’s recently released memoir does not reflect what actually happened on the day Abacha died.
“The boy was asked to write the lies by others. I have all the CCTV footages of what happened in my custody, so what he said are not true,” Al-Mustapha said.
He urged Nigerians to ignore the allegations, arguing that it is unfair to make such claims about someone who is no longer alive to defend himself.
“Just ignore his lies. It’s bad to say such things about someone that is dead,” he added.
Al-Mustapha also suggested that the retired DSS officer was acting on behalf of others, promising to respond fully at the appropriate time.
“I want to assure you that the author of the book is acting out a script. He is not acting alone. At the appropriate time, I will respond to these lies. You don’t tell your enemies your plans,” he said.
The controversy followed claims made by Dennis Amachree in his 348-page memoir, DSS @ 40: My Journey Behind the Shield, in which he alleged that Abacha died in the early hours of June 8, 1998, after suffering what he described as a coitus-induced cardiac arrest inside the Aso Rock Presidential Villa Guest House.
According to Amachree, the incident allegedly involved a Nigerian pharmacist.
“The lady pharmacist 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,” Amachree wrote in the book.
Al-Mustapha has, over the years, consistently maintained a different account of Abacha’s death, previously claiming that the former military ruler died after shaking hands with a security operative attached to a visiting foreign dignitary.
General Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death in June 1998. His passing came just weeks before the death of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, widely regarded as the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, who died while in government custody.
The conflicting accounts have once again reignited public debate over the circumstances surrounding Abacha’s death more than two decades later.
