Inside The Dramatic Lagos Arrest: How DSS Helped FBI Nab A Wanted Plane Hijacker

A retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has revealed how Nigeria’s intelligence agency worked alongside the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to capture notorious plane hijacker Omar Rezaq in Lagos in 1993.

Amachree disclosed the details in his memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, where he reflects on his four decades of service in Nigeria’s intelligence community.

Rezaq, a Lebanese-born militant, gained international notoriety after participating in the 1985 hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648, one of the most infamous airline hijackings of the era.

According to Amachree, the operation to apprehend Rezaq at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos was completed in just 15 minutes.

He recalled that the mission began in July 1993 when the then Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Peter Nwaoduah, instructed him to prepare for the arrival of a security delegation from the U.S. Embassy. Although the reason for the visit was not initially disclosed, Amachree was directed to provide the team with full cooperation.

“Less than an hour later, a contingent of FBI special agents arrived at my office. They confirmed that the Director General had briefed them, and we immediately shifted our focus to the mission,” Amachree wrote.

The FBI agents soon identified Rezaq as the target of the operation. Intelligence indicated that he was travelling from Accra, Ghana, to Lagos aboard a Ghana Airways flight.

The objective, Amachree explained, was to arrest the suspect quietly and efficiently. Given Rezaq’s violent background, the FBI stressed the need for absolute precision and secrecy throughout the mission.

To facilitate the arrest, Amachree assigned one of his officers to accompany the FBI agents to the aircraft boarding bridge to monitor the flight’s arrival. He also contacted the military Airport Commandant, John Ojikutu, who promptly deployed armed airmen to secure the arrival area against any possible security threat.

“After I briefed him on the sensitivity of the operation, he responded swiftly by mobilising armed personnel to establish a secure perimeter around the arrival zone,” Amachree stated.

He further disclosed that the FBI had positioned a privately chartered Gulfstream IV aircraft nearby, allowing its agents to leave Nigeria immediately after taking custody of the suspect.

Once the Ghana Airways flight landed, Rezaq was intercepted and arrested without incident. He was immediately handed over to the FBI team, which departed Nigeria with him aboard the waiting aircraft.

“The entire ground operation was executed with surgical precision and lasted exactly 15 minutes,” Amachree noted, adding that speed and secrecy were critical to preventing any security breach or failed arrest.

Following his extradition to the United States, Rezaq was tried and convicted in 1996 on several charges, including air piracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Amachree also revealed that his role in the successful operation earned him formal recognition from the U.S. government. According to him, then-President Bill Clinton presented him with a plaque of commendation in appreciation of his contribution to the arrest and transfer of the notorious hijacker.