Al-Mustapha dismisses ex-DSS officer’s account of Abacha’s death

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

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference at Arewa House in Kaduna on Saturday, Al-Mustapha described Amachree’s account as false and urged Nigerians to disregard it.

His remarks followed renewed public attention on Amachree’s memoir, The Shadow Warrior, in which the retired DSS officer presented his version of the events leading to Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998.

Al-Mustapha alleged that the account was fabricated and did not reflect what transpired.

“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,” he said.

The retired army major claimed to possess evidence capable of disproving the version contained in the memoir but did not provide further details or indicate whether he intended to release the footage publicly.

He also argued that it was unfair to make allegations against someone who was no longer alive to defend himself.

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

Abacha, who assumed power following a military coup on November 17, 1993, died suddenly at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 8, 1998. Although the Federal Government announced that he died after a brief illness, the circumstances surrounding his death have remained the subject of speculation and conflicting accounts for nearly three decades.

Over the years, former military officers, intelligence officials, diplomats and political actors have offered varying narratives of Abacha’s final hours through books, interviews and public statements.

Amachree, a retired Assistant Director of the DSS who served during the Abacha administration, recently reignited the debate with the publication of his memoir, prompting fresh reactions from former officials who served under the late military ruler.

Al-Mustapha, one of Abacha’s closest aides, has consistently challenged accounts he believes misrepresent the former Head of State or events during his administration.

Following Abacha’s death, Al-Mustapha was arrested in 1999 and later 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 acquitted him in 2013.

Since his release, Al-Mustapha has continued to defend the Abacha administration, insisting that many allegations against the late military government were politically motivated or unsupported by evidence.