A retired DSS officer’s new book reveals what Abacha’s companion told interrogators in 1998
Retired DSS officer Dennis Amachree has revealed in his new 348-page book that an Igbo pharmacist who was with General Sani Abacha when he died on June 8, 1998, told him during interrogation that Abacha suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during intercourse at Aso Villa, Abuja.
For 27 years, the death of one of Nigeria’s most feared rulers fuelled endless debate. Now, a retired spy says he has the final answer, and it comes from the woman who was in the room.
Amachree served as the Assistant Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Lagos State SSS Command in 1998. He has broken his silence in a new memoir. He says an Igbo pharmacist, Abacha’s companion that night, told him directly how the General died.
“He Died on Top of Me”
After Abacha’s death at 4:05 am on June 8, 1998, the woman boarded the next available flight to Lagos. Amachree’s team tracked her down 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,” Amachree said.
The woman’s words gave investigators their clearest picture of Abacha’s final moments. She did not change her story under questioning. Amachree says her account is the only one that holds up.
The Book That Ends the Theories
Amachree lays out the full account in his 348-page memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, just published. He argues the pharmacist’s version of events is the only true one.
“The lady pharmacist’s account, 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 said.
He then fired back at anyone pushing a different version of events.
“Any other narrative is an act of deceit and a disservice to our countrymen and women,” Amachree said.
A Ruler’s Sudden Death and Three Decades of Rumour
Abacha ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death in June 1998. He died at 54, and the sudden manner of his passing sparked a wave of theories.
Some claimed he was poisoned. Others blamed political rivals. The mystery sat unresolved for nearly three decades.
This case echoes Nigeria’s other disputed military-era deaths that have split national opinion for years. Amachree’s book now puts a name and a face to the story.
He confirms the death happened inside Aso Villa and that no third party caused it. The pharmacist flew back to Abuja once her account checked out. Amachree insists the case was never a murder.
