Former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services, Dennis Amachree, has challenged retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to publicly produce the CCTV footage he claims captured the final hours of former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
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Amachree said Al-Mustapha, who served as Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, should respond to the account contained in his memoir with verifiable evidence rather than dismissing it as false or resorting to personal attacks.
The retired DSS officer made the demand amid a growing public dispute over the circumstances surrounding Abacha’s death at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 8, 1998.
Amachree had provided an account of the former military ruler’s final moments in his recently released memoir, DSS@40: My Journey Behind the Shield.
Al-Mustapha subsequently rejected the account, describing it as false and alleging that Amachree was acting out a script prepared by unnamed individuals.
The retired army officer also claimed that he had CCTV footage of what occurred during Abacha’s final hours and could use it to disprove the version presented in the book.
Responding, Amachree said the proper way for Al-Mustapha to challenge his account was to release the footage or present other credible evidence showing that the information in the memoir was inaccurate.
He maintained that merely labelling the account a fabrication without producing evidence was insufficient.
According to Amachree, the memoir was not published arbitrarily or without institutional scrutiny, as it was submitted to the DSS for official vetting before its release.
He said the security agency reviewed and approved the book as part of activities marking the 40th anniversary of the service.
Amachree further stated that the DSS invited him from the United States to Nigeria to attend the book launch, which was treated as an institutional event rather than merely a private project.
He said the launch was attended by senior members of Nigeria’s security community, directors of the DSS from different states and members of the diplomatic corps.
The retired intelligence officer argued that the circumstances surrounding the publication and launch demonstrated that the book underwent the necessary scrutiny before it was presented to the public.
Amachree also rejected Al-Mustapha’s description of him as “a boy,” describing the remark as disrespectful and inconsistent with their ages, careers and ranks at retirement.
“I was seven years old when Nigeria gained independence,” Amachree said during a telephone interview.
Nigeria gained independence from Britain on October 1, 1960.
Amachree also compared their respective ranks at retirement, saying he left the DSS as an Assistant Director, a position he argued was equivalent to the rank of 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,” he said.
He insisted that Al-Mustapha should focus on the substance of the disputed account rather than attacking his personality or questioning his standing as a retired security officer.
Amachree maintained that if the former Chief Security Officer was present during the events surrounding Abacha’s death and possessed recordings of what occurred, he should make the footage available for independent examination.
He argued that producing the recordings would allow Nigerians to assess the evidence and reach an informed conclusion about the conflicting accounts.
The controversy followed revelations in Amachree’s memoir concerning Abacha’s final moments inside the Presidential Villa Guest House.
Al-Mustapha had questioned Amachree’s credibility, arguing that the retired DSS officer was neither in Abuja nor inside the Presidential Villa when Abacha died.
He alleged that the memoir was part of an attempt by unnamed individuals to damage the reputation of the late military ruler.
Al-Mustapha nevertheless maintained that CCTV footage of the events remained in his custody and promised to respond more comprehensively at what he described as the appropriate time.
Amachree has now called on him to release the purported footage, insisting that the dispute should be resolved through evidence rather than accusations, insults or unsupported denials.
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