Al-Mustapha Fires Back: Ex-DSS Officer’s Account of Abacha’s Death Is a Lie, I Have CCTV Evidence

Al-Mustapha Fires Back: Ex-DSS Officer’s Account of Abacha’s Death Is a Lie, I Have CCTV Evidence

Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), has vehemently dismissed claims made by a retired Department of State Services operative regarding the circumstances surrounding Abacha’s death, insisting he possesses CCTV footage that contradicts the narrative entirely. Al-Mustapha, who served as Abacha’s Chief Security Officer throughout his administration, described the account by former DSS Assistant Director Dennis Amachree as false and urged Nigerians to disregard it completely. His comments came amid renewed public interest in Amachree’s memoir, The Shadow Warrior, which offers a controversial version of events leading to Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998.

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference at Arewa House in Kaduna on Saturday, Al-Mustapha alleged that Amachree’s account was fabricated and did not reflect what transpired during the late military ruler’s final moments. Rejecting the claims outright, Al-Mustapha stated that Amachree was asked by others to write those lies, and he emphasized that he has all the CCTV footage of what happened in his custody, so what Amachree said is not true. The retired army major maintained that he possesses video evidence capable of disproving the narrative contained in the publication but did not provide further details about the alleged footage or indicate whether he planned to release it to the public.

The controversy stems from Amachree’s memoir, in which the retired intelligence officer claimed that General Abacha died in the early hours of June 8, 1998, after what he described as a coitus-induced cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a woman inside the Presidential Villa Guest House in Abuja. According to the memoir, the incident occurred at approximately 4:05 a.m., and the woman, described as a pharmacist, later fled to Lagos. Amachree claimed she was subsequently tracked and interrogated by the DSS after intelligence reports indicated she had left Abuja shortly after the former Head of State’s death.

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Al-Mustapha, however, questioned the credibility of Amachree’s account, pointing out that the former DSS official was not even in Abuja at the time of Abacha’s death. He argued that when Abacha died, the DSS director was not in Abuja and was not in the Villa, and he questioned how Amachree could write mere narration and expect the public to believe it. Al-Mustapha further alleged that Amachree was acting on behalf of unnamed interests, asserting that the author of the book is acting out a script and is not acting alone. He added that at the appropriate time, he will respond to these lies, noting that one does not tell one’s enemies their plans.

Al-Mustapha appealed to Nigerians not to accept the claims, arguing that it was unfair to level accusations against someone who was no longer alive to respond. He urged the public to simply ignore the lies, stating that it is bad to say such things about someone who is dead. He also urged those making such claims to remember the transient nature of life, adding that whoever he is should know that the world is not permanent and that everyone will leave the world one day.

General Sani Abacha assumed power following a military coup on November 17, 1993, and remained Nigeria’s Head of State until his sudden death at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 8, 1998. At the time, the Federal Government announced that Abacha died after a brief illness. However, the circumstances surrounding his death have remained one of the most controversial and debated episodes in Nigeria’s political history for nearly three decades. Over the years, former military officers, intelligence personnel, diplomats, and political figures have offered varying accounts through books, interviews, and public statements, resulting in conflicting narratives about the late leader’s final hours.

Al-Mustapha remains a prominent and controversial figure in Nigeria’s political history. Following Abacha’s death, he was arrested in 1999 and prosecuted over the attempted murder of publisher Alex Ibru and the killing 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 consistently defended the Abacha administration, maintaining that many allegations against the late military government and its officials were politically motivated or unsupported by credible evidence.

As the debate over Abacha’s death continues, Al-Mustapha’s claims of possessing CCTV footage add a new dimension to the long-running controversy, though whether he will make the evidence public remains to be seen.

Al-Mustapha Fires Back: Ex-DSS Officer’s Account of Abacha’s Death Is a Lie, I Have CCTV Evidence