Retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has challenged Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, to produce CCTV footage of the military ruler’s final hours if he disputes the account contained in his memoir.
Amachree issued the challenge while reacting to Al-Mustapha’s dismissal of claims in his newly released book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield.
In the 348-page memoir, Amachree claimed that Abacha died at about 4:05 a.m. on June 8, 1998, after suffering what he described as a coitus-induced cardiac arrest inside the Presidential Villa Guest House in Abuja.
The retired DSS officer said he was involved in the investigation that followed the late military ruler’s sudden death and maintained that the account in his book was based on his direct experience and knowledge of the incident.
Al-Mustapha had described the account as false and urged Nigerians not to believe it.
Speaking in an interview, the retired intelligence officer said Al-Mustapha should present evidence rather than merely rejecting his account:
“If he says what I wrote is false, let him produce the CCTV footage of what happened.”
He maintained that response should be based on verifiable facts instead of personal attacks, noting that simply describing his account as false does not invalidate the findings contained in his memoir.
Amachree further defended his credentials, pointing out that he retired from the DSS as an Assistant Director, a rank he said is equivalent to a Brigadier in the Nigerian Army:
“I retired as an Assistant Director, which in army terms is equivalent to a Brigadier, while Al-Mustapha retired as a Major.”