Dennis Amachree, an author and retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), has dismissed the long-standing claim that former Nigerian Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, died after being poisoned by two Indian women, describing the story as a fabricated narrative.
Speaking during an interview from 3:15 on Arise News on Monday, 27 July, 2026, Amachree said he and his colleagues in the security service found the reports amusing when they first emerged. According to him, the widely circulated account alleging that Indian women used poisoned apples to kill Abacha lacked credibility and appeared to have been created to sensationalise the circumstances surrounding the former military ruler’s death.
Recalling the reaction within security circles at the time, Amachree said, “My colleagues and I were laughing at it when we saw the news about Indian ladies with poisoned apples. I think that was either the imagination of either somebody or some journalists who wants to manufacture son kind of stories.”
The retired DSS official suggested that the controversial narrative gained traction largely because of speculation rather than verifiable evidence. He maintained that the version of events involving poisoned apples and Indian women did not reflect what security operatives believed at the time.
Abacha died on June 8, 1998, while serving as Nigeria’s Head of State, and the circumstances surrounding his death have remained the subject of public debate for decades. Various theories have emerged over the years, including claims that he suffered a heart attack or was poisoned, with some accounts linking his death to alleged encounters with foreign women.