A public debate over the death of former Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has resurfaced following claims made by former Department of State Services (DSS) operative Dennis Amachree in his memoir, with journalist and political commentator Tony Eluemunor dismissing the account as inaccurate and misleading.
In an article, Eluemunor argued that Amachree’s version of events in his book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, was based on an unverified personal account rather than the official findings of Nigeria’s security agencies.
Amachree had claimed that Abacha suffered a fatal heart attack while in the company of a female pharmacist at the Presidential Guest House in Abuja on the night of June 8, 1998. According to his account, the woman later told him during questioning that the former military ruler had died while they were together.
However, Eluemunor faulted the narrative, arguing that it relied solely on the woman’s testimony without corroboration from the wider investigation conducted by the DSS and other intelligence agencies. He described the claim as professionally flawed, saying it overlooked the conclusions reached by senior security officials who handled the case.
The writer maintained that intelligence reports available to top security authorities at the time concluded that Abacha died following a severe asthma attack. He claimed the late military ruler, who reportedly suffered from several health conditions including diabetes and liver sclerosis, had left his inhaler behind before receiving visitors that night. According to Eluemunor, Abacha collapsed while fully clothed and there was no evidence that he died during a sexual encounter.
Eluemunor further alleged that two Filipino women—not Indian nationals as widely reported—visited Abacha that night, insisting they were regular visitors to the Presidential Villa and not prostitutes. He said they were the ones who alerted security personnel after Abacha suffered the medical emergency.
Beyond the medical explanation, the article also advanced a more controversial claim that Abacha may have been poisoned during a handshake with a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s entourage earlier that day. Eluemunor wrote that unnamed security sources believed a toxic substance may have been transferred through a specially designed pen, triggering a fatal reaction with the medication Abacha was taking. He added that a review of security footage allegedly informed that theory, although no official investigation has publicly confirmed such a conclusion.
Concluding his argument, Eluemunor insisted that Amachree’s account distorted Nigeria’s institutional history, maintaining that the official security investigations did not support the claim that Abacha died in bed with a woman.
