REVEALED! Ex-DSS Chief Claims Abacha Died During Intimate Encounter with Igbo Pharmacist in Aso Rock

• Retired intelligence officer dismisses poisoned-apple theory
• Says woman at centre of incident fled Villa, was tracked to Lagos for interrogation
• Claims pharmacist told investigators: “I didn’t kill him… he died on top of me”

Segun Atanda/

Nearly three decades after the sudden death of Nigeria’s former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, a retired senior operative of the Department of State Services (DSS) has offered what he describes as the definitive account of the controversial incident that has fuelled conspiracy theories for years.

Dennis Amachree, a former Assistant Director of the DSS, claims that Abacha died from a cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter with a young pharmacist inside the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, in the early hours of June 8, 1998.

The startling revelations are contained in his newly released memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, excerpts of which were published by The Nation today.

Amachree, who served as Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos State Command at the time, rejected persistent claims that the late military ruler died after eating a poisoned apple or was assassinated.

According to him, Abacha suffered the fatal medical emergency at about 4:05 a.m. while alone with the woman at the Aso Rock Guest House.

He alleged that the woman, a pharmacist attending a conference in Abuja, had accompanied her elder sister, whom he identified as Abacha’s girlfriend, to the Presidential Villa earlier that night.

Amachree wrote that after the elder sister returned to her hotel, Abacha asked the younger woman to remain behind.

“At approximately 2.40 a.m., shortly after Gen. Useni left, Abacha’s girlfriend… arrived at the Aso Rock Guest House from the Nicon Noga Hilton Hotel.

“With her was her younger sister, a pharmacist who was in Abuja for a conference. The Head of State had just bought his girlfriend a new SUV, and they decided to stop by to say hello to ‘Oga’.

“Abacha was taken with the younger sister and, after a short while, the girlfriend returned to the hotel, leaving the pharmacist alone with the Head of State.”

The retired intelligence officer claimed that while the two were engaged in an intimate encounter, the woman suddenly realised something had gone terribly wrong.

“At about 4.05 a.m., as they were getting intimate, the pharmacist realised Abacha had stopped moving. She called out to him, but he was unresponsive and stiff. She checked his pulse; there was none.”

According to Amachree, the frightened woman quickly dressed up and left the guest house, telling the soldier on duty that the Head of State had instructed that a vehicle should take her back to her hotel.

He further claimed that she boarded an early morning flight to Lagos before security operatives in Abuja could question her.

Amachree said that after Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, was informed of the military ruler’s condition at about 5 a.m., an urgent search for the woman began. By then, however, she had already left the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the DSS headquarters subsequently instructed him to locate and interrogate her in Lagos.

Recalling the encounter, Amachree said the visibly shaken woman repeatedly insisted she had nothing to do with Abacha’s death.

“I did not kill him; he died on top of me,” she reportedly told investigators.

Amachree added that his team traced the woman to Lagos and brought her in for questioning.

“My team located and brought her to my office. I interrogated her myself. The first thing she said to me was: ‘I did not kill him; he died on top of me.’ After her detailed account, I called the Director in Abuja, and she was immediately flown back.”

The retired DSS officer maintained that the woman’s testimony supports his conclusion that Abacha suffered a coitus-induced cardiac arrest, not poisoning or assassination.

According to him, her account effectively debunks the numerous conspiracy theories that have surrounded the former military ruler’s death for almost three decades.

Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death on June 8, 1998, died while still in office. His sudden demise remains one of the most controversial episodes in Nigeria’s political history, with competing narratives continuing to generate public debate.

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