Did Abacha Die in Bed With Lady? Former Ruler's CSO Opens Up
- Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha has disputed a retired DSS official's account of how General Sani Abacha died in June 1998
- The claim, published in a new 348-page book by Dennis Amachree, alleged Abacha suffered a cardiac arrest during intimacy with a Nigerian pharmacist
- Al-Mustapha explained that the account was scripted by unnamed individuals and insisted he holds CCTV footage of Abacha's final moments
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering public affairs and governance in Nigeria and Africa.
FCT, Abuja - General Sani Abacha's former chief security officer (CSO), Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha (rtd), has publicly rejected claims made in a newly published book that the late military ruler, died during a sexual encounter with a Nigerian pharmacist.
As reported on Sunday, July 26, by The Nation, Al-Mustapha spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference in Kaduna, days after the media reported on the book's contents. He dismissed the account as a scripted narrative driven by certain unnamed individuals and said it bore no resemblance to what actually happened.
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The Punch also noted Al-Mustapha's rebuttal.
The former CSO stopped short of giving his own account of Abacha's death but said he possessed CCTV footage covering the dictator's final moments. He did not elaborate further.
Al-Mustapha had previously said Abacha died after shaking hands with a security guard attached to a visiting foreign dignitary. In the days before his death on June 8, 1998, Abacha had received emissaries from then Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat, as well as Pope John Paul II, who had travelled to Nigeria to appeal for the release of detainees.
Abacha: What Amachree's book claims
The disputed account appears in a 348-page memoir titled *DSS @ 40: My Journey Behind the Shield*, written by retired security official Dennis Amachree. In it, Amachree rejected earlier stories that Abacha was poisoned through an apple delivered by two Indian women in his company. He argued instead that the former head of state died of a cardiac arrest brought on by sexual activity.
Amachree wrote:
"The lady pharmacist on whom Abacha apparently had a coitus-induced cardiac arrest, remains the true position and puts an end to the conspiracy theories and half-truths that have gone viral."
He went further, claiming his team tracked down the woman and brought her in for questioning.
"My team located and brought her to my office. I interrogated her myself," he wrote. "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."
Conflicting accounts of Abacha's death
The circumstances of Abacha's death have remained contested for nearly three decades. Multiple conflicting versions have circulated since 1998, ranging from poisoning to natural causes.
Al-Mustapha's latest intervention adds a fresh layer of dispute to an already murky historical record, though he has yet to release or publicly present the footage he claims to hold.
Source: Twitter
Obi compares leaders to Abacha
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Nigerian presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, stirred fresh political controversy after accusing some former pro-democracy activists of abandoning the ideals they once defended.
NDC's Obi noted that their conduct in power now compares unfavourably with that of the late Abacha.
Source: Legit.ng
