Former Abacha Aide Disputes Claim by Ex-Intelligence Officer Regarding Late Dictator's Demise

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Former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), has dismissed claims by a former Department of State Services operative, Dennis Amachree, about the final moments of the late military ruler.

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Al-Mustapha described the account as false and urged Nigerians not to believe it.

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He spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference held at Arewa House, Kaduna, on Saturday.

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His reaction followed renewed public discussions over Amachree’s memoir, The Shadow Warrior, in which the former DSS operative reportedly gave his account of the events surrounding Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998.

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Rejecting the claims, Al-Mustapha alleged that the account was fabricated and did not reflect what happened.

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“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.

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The retired army major maintained that he possessed evidence capable of contradicting the version of events contained in the publication but did not elaborate on the footage or indicate whether he intended to make it public.

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He urged Nigerians to disregard the claims, insisting that it was wrong to make allegations against a deceased person who could no longer defend himself.

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

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Abacha, who seized power in a military coup on November 17, 1993, ruled Nigeria until his sudden death at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on June 8, 1998.

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The Federal Government announced at the time that the Head of State had died after a sudden illness, but the circumstances surrounding his death have remained one of the most controversial episodes in Nigeria’s political history.

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Over the years, conflicting accounts have emerged from former military officers, intelligence operatives, diplomats and political actors, with books and interviews offering different versions of what happened during Abacha’s final hours.

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Amachree, a retired Assistant Director of the DSS who served during the Abacha administration, recently rekindled the controversy in his memoir by presenting his own account of the late military ruler’s final moments.

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The publication has generated fresh reactions from former officials who served under the regime.

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Al-Mustapha, one of Abacha’s closest aides, has consistently rejected allegations and narratives he believes misrepresent the late Head of State or the events of that period.

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The former CSO himself remains a controversial figure in Nigeria’s political history. Following Abacha’s death, he was arrested in 1999 and later stood trial over 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.

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

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Since regaining his freedom, Al-Mustapha has repeatedly defended the Abacha administration, arguing that several allegations against the late military ruler and members of his government were politically motivated or unsupported by facts.

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