Al-Mustapha Rejects Ex-DSS Officer’s Account of Abacha’s Death

Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), has rejected claims by former Department of State Services (DSS) operative, Dennis Amachree, regarding the circumstances surrounding Abacha’s death, describing the account as false.

Al-Mustapha urged Nigerians to disregard the claims, insisting that the version of events presented by Amachree did not represent what actually happened.

He made the remarks while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference held at Arewa House in Kaduna on Saturday.

His reaction followed renewed attention on Amachree’s memoir, The Shadow Warrior, where the retired DSS officer reportedly shared his account of the events leading to Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998.

Dismisssing the claims, Al-Mustapha alleged that the account was fabricated and claimed he had evidence to contradict the narrative.

“The boy was asked by others to write those lies. I have all the CCTV footage of what happened in my custody, so what he said is not true,” Al-Mustapha said.

The retired army major said he had access to materials that could disprove the account contained in the memoir but did not reveal details of the alleged footage or state whether it would be made public.

He also appealed to Nigerians not to accept allegations made against the late military ruler, arguing that Abacha could no longer respond to such claims.

“Just ignore his lies. It’s bad to say such things about someone who is dead,” he added.

Gen. Sani Abacha, who came to power through a military coup on November 17, 1993, governed Nigeria until his sudden death at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 8, 1998.

The Federal Government at the time announced that Abacha died after a sudden illness, but the circumstances surrounding his death have remained a subject of controversy and debate in Nigeria’s political history.

Over the years, different accounts have emerged from former military officers, intelligence officials, diplomats, and political figures, with several publications presenting conflicting explanations of Abacha’s final moments.

Amachree, a retired Assistant Director of the DSS who served during the Abacha administration, recently revived discussions on the issue through his memoir, offering his own account of what happened before the former Head of State’s death.

The publication has since triggered reactions from former officials who served during the Abacha era.

Al-Mustapha, one of Abacha’s closest aides, has remained vocal in rejecting accounts he believes portray the late Head of State or his administration inaccurately.

Following Abacha’s death, Al-Mustapha was arrested in 1999 and later prosecuted over allegations bordering on the attempted murder of publisher Alex Ibru and the murder of Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola.

He spent more than a decade in detention before the Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted him in 2013.

Since his release, Al-Mustapha has continued to defend the Abacha administration, arguing that several allegations against the late military ruler and his government were politically motivated or lacked factual foundation.

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