‘I Did Not Kill Abacha, He Died On Top Of Me’ — Alleged Mistress Recounted Final Moments.

 

A retired security operative has revealed details surrounding the death of former Nigerian military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, claiming that a woman who was with him during his final moments insisted she was not responsible for his death.

Dennis Amachree, a former Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos State Command of the Department of State Services, said the woman, identified as an Igbo pharmacist, was with Abacha at the Aso Villa, Abuja, when he suddenly died on June 8, 1998.

According to Amachree, the woman was questioned after Abacha's death amid widespread speculation over the circumstances surrounding the former military ruler's sudden demise.

He claimed that when his team located and brought the woman to his office, she immediately denied any involvement in Abacha's death.

“I did not kill him, he died on top of me,” Amachree quoted the woman as saying during the interrogation.

Amachree made the revelation in his 348-page book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, in which he gave his account of the events surrounding Abacha's final hours.

He said the woman was subsequently flown back to Abuja after he contacted the Director of the DSS, adding that her account provided what he described as an explanation for Abacha's sudden death.

Amachree maintained that Abacha suffered a cardiac arrest during an intimate encounter, arguing that alternative accounts of the former military ruler's death were based on conspiracy theories and speculation.

Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from November 1993, died suddenly at the age of 54 while still in office. His death, coming amid his highly controversial military rule, sparked widespread speculation about the cause.

The retired security operative also reflected on Abacha's five-and-a-half-year tenure, describing it as a period of authoritarian rule marked by alleged human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Abacha's death occurred less than a month before that of Chief Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, who died on July 7, 1998, while in government custody.

Amachree's account has now added another perspective to the long-running debate over the circumstances surrounding the former military ruler's death.