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Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late General Sani Abacha, has dismissed a former intelligence operative’s account of the military ruler’s death, claiming he possesses CCTV footage that contradicts the narrative.
Speaking on the sidelines of a memorial conference in Kaduna on Saturday, Al-Mustapha responded to claims made by retired DSS Assistant Director Dennis Amachree in his memoir, The Shadow Warrior, which offers an account of Abacha’s final hours.
“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 told journalists.
The retired major declined to elaborate on the footage or whether he plans to make it public but urged Nigerians to disregard Amachree’s account.
“Just ignore his lies. It’s bad to say such things about someone who is dead,” he said.
Abacha died suddenly on June 8, 1998, at the Presidential Villa after ruling Nigeria since seizing power in a 1993 coup.
The government officially attributed his death to a sudden illness, but the circumstances have remained a subject of speculation and controversy for nearly three decades.
Amachree’s memoir has reignited public interest in the incident, leading to fresh reactions from former regime officials.
Al-Mustapha, one of Abacha’s closest aides, has consistently defended the late leader.
He himself spent over a decade in detention after Abacha’s death, standing trial for the attempted murder of publisher Alex Ibru and the murder of Kudirat Abiola, wife of presumed June 12 election winner MKO Abiola.
He was discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013.
