Directed by Robert Peters, Hijack ’93 is based on the real-life events where four teenagers hijacked a plane of Nigerian Airways. These boys were not criminals but merely victims of their own circumstances. The corrupt regime had pushed them to their limit, and they didn’t have an option other than to do something as extreme as hijacking a flight in order to make the authorities listen to their demands. So let’s find out which of the things shown in the film happened in real life and what happened to the hijackers at the end.
Spoiler Alert
Is it based on a true story?
The general elections in Nigeria had been annulled back in 1993, and the country stood on the brink of a civil war. “The Movement for Democracy”, a rebel group operating in the country, waged a war against the authorities because they wanted democracy to prevail and free and fair elections to happen in their nation. Moshood Kashimawo, a political leader from the Social Democratic Party, won the elections, but Ibrahim Babangida, the military supremo, annulled the election and then eventually took charge of things. The gap between the rich and the poor was getting wider. The people were fighting for the basic necessities of life, and the widespread discrimination made them so desperate that they didn’t mind taking extreme measures. The creators of Hijack ‘93 have taken creative liberties, and they have mentioned that the film is a fictionalized tale based on a real event. So, the hijacking did happen, and it is true that 4 teenagers took over the Airbus A310 of Nigerian Airways. The flight was going from Lagos to Abuja, but midway it was forced to take a halt at Niamey, the capital city of Niger.
Benneth Oluwadaisi, Kabir Adenuga, Richard Ogunderu, and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal were the names of the real hijackers, and their sole intention was to bring back the Social Democratic Party in power. It is true that there were some top government officials on the flight, which is why the gang decided to hijack that particular flight. As shown in the film, the hijackers were caught by the Special Forces army, and they served a 9-year sentence.
What did the hijackers want?
Four teenagers, Kayode, Owiwi, Omar, and Skipper, boarded the Nigerian Airways flight with the intention of hijacking it and making it land in Frankfurt. Somebody from the cabin crew had already hidden weapons and ammunition in the plane washroom. It didn’t take long for the local authorities to figure out that the hijackers were amateurs, and they had no clue about what they signed up for. The hijacking was an act of desperation. These young boys were literally fighting for their basic necessities. We got to know that the family of one of the hijackers had been killed, and he felt extremely helpless when he realized that nobody was going to help his cause. There was chaos in the country, and he couldn’t even go to the court of law to seek justice. The Nigerian people understood that the world belonged to the rich and powerful, and the underprivileged had no say in any matter. The only thing that could have given them respite was a free and fair election. They hoped that things would get better once the Social Democratic Party took charge of things. But the elections were annulled, and they lost the only hope they had.
With what we saw in Hijack ‘93, it became clear that the hijackers were not bad people. They even felt guilty for making the passengers go through the entire ordeal. Owiwi lost his temper when the plane landed in Niger, and just to make the local authorities believe that he meant business, he threatened to kill one of the passengers, though everybody knew that he was not going to pull the trigger. Captain Kenneth Dokunbo, commander of the special forces army, took charge of things, and that’s when they got to know that the son (Lee Zhang) of the Chinese Ambassador in Nigeria was also on the flight. The commander knew that if they conducted a rescue mission, they would be able to take over the hijackers, but they couldn’t risk the life of Lee Zhang. The hijackers released women and children eventually, and they were ready to surrender too, provided their demands were fulfilled. Firstly, they wanted to be tried in a court in Niger only, and secondly, they wanted to talk to a journalist and make their story known to the world. Even the law enforcement authorities were a bit surprised when they heard the demands of the hijackers because, generally, whenever such an incident happened, the criminals always asked for money or some materialistic things. It became clear that these young boys only wanted justice. They only wanted the world to understand that what they were doing was an act of desperation. They were not hardened criminals, but their circumstances put their lives in jeopardy probably because they were made to believe that that was the only way out for them.
What Finally Happened To The hijackers?
The army decided that they first needed to take out Lee Zhang so that they could conduct their rescue mission. Lee Zhang ate his food, and then suddenly he fell sick. People told the hijackers that he needed to get off the plane, as otherwise he would succumb to his illness. His food was poisoned intentionally by a person on board, and then later on, the doctors stabilized his condition after giving him an antidote.
In Hijack ’93’s ending, the army caught the hijackers, and one of them got gravely injured during the shootout. As requested, the hijackers were tried in a court in Niger only, and the world did come to know about their motives and intentions behind hijacking the plane. More than anything, the incident drew the attention of the entire world towards widespread corruption in the Nigerian government. In real life, there were no casualties reported during the hijacking, and each and every passenger was rescued at the end. It is often said that to make the deaf hear, one has to raise his voice and do something so audacious that it can’t be ignored. The hijackers were found guilty by the court of law, and they had to serve a nine-year sentence, but more importantly, the world came to know about their deplorable living conditions. The injustice, social inequity, and other corrupt activities were brought to light and even if nothing much changed after that, the boys knew that they had done whatever they could to fight for their cause.
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