Dennis Amachree, a former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), has offered his account of the final moments of Nigeria’s former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, in his newly released memoir.
Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death in June 1998, remains one of the country’s most controversial military leaders. His sudden death while in office has long been the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories.
In his book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, Amachree, who served as Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the DSS Lagos Command at the time, claimed that Abacha died from cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a woman inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Amachree, the incident occurred at about 4:05 a.m. He alleged that the woman who was with the late military ruler fled the Presidential Villa shortly after the incident and boarded the next available flight to Lagos.
The former DSS operative presented the account as his version of the events surrounding Abacha’s death, adding another perspective to one of the most debated episodes in Nigeria’s political history.
Abacha’s administration, which lasted nearly five years, was marked by allegations of widespread human rights abuses, suppression of political opposition, and authoritarian rule. More than two decades after his death, the circumstances surrounding his final moments continue to generate public interest and debate.
