The terrifying true story behind Netflix’s Hijack ’93: How 4 youngsters took over 190 passengers hostage and threatened to set aircraft on fireplace in politically motivated plot (and why they’re now seen as heroes)

On 25 October 1993, four teenage boys boarded a Nigeria Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja with a clear agenda: hijack the aircraft, take all 193 passengers hostage and force the government to bend to their demands.

The moment the pilot told passengers they could unfasten their seatbelts, the young men – aged between 16 and 18 – sprung into action.

After entering the cockpit with a fake gun, the second step of their plan was to declare that the commercial aircraft – which had several leading politicians on board – was now being controlled by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD).

‘Remain calm, we will not harm you,’ they reportedly told the terrified travellers. ‘You will be told where the plane will land you.’

But despite their claims that there would be no casualties, the teenagers’ carefully constructed plan quickly descended into chaos – culminating in the death of a crew member following four days of tense negotiations.

31 years on from the incident, Netflix has dramatised the case in their film Hijack ’93, which lands on the streaming platform tomorrow.

Here FEMAIL delves into hijacking that had Nigeria on tenterhooks in October 1993 – and why the men have since been celebrated as heroes.

Political unrest in run-up 

The 1980s and 1990s were a particularly turbulent time for politics in the West African country. 

In 1983, the Nigerian military staged a coup to overthrow President Shehu Shagri’s elected government.

Over the next 10 years, power only passed through the hands of the military, which resulted in internal uprising and power struggles among leaders.

In 1990, Major Gideon Orkar attempted to overthrow the government through a failed military coup – after General Ibrahim Babangida took power via the same means five years before. 

Three years later, the country went to the polls for the first time in over a decade – with Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, who was the leader of the Social Democratic Party, winning over the National Republican Convention’s Alhaji Bashir Tofa.

Although MKO Abiola won in a landslide and secured eight million votes, the military government proceeded to annul the election – citing security threats. 

At the time, military leader General Ibrahim Babangida said in a statement that ‘these steps were taken to save our judiciary from being ridiculed and politicized locally and internationally’.

However, the decision led to unrest among the population amid growing fears there would be indefinite military rule.

A Western diplomat in West Africa told the New York Times in 1993: ‘The military has only themselves to blame for this mess.’

Hijacking plane with a toy gun

After three months of protests, teenagers Richard Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal decided to send a message to the Nigerian government. 

When they boarded the Nigeria Airways plane, the foursome had already prepared statements demanding MKO Abiola be instated as the country’s rightful leader, which they handed out to passengers.

They also demanded the military return embezzled money to the state and reopen a series of closed newspaper companies and universities.  

Before the incident, Ogunderu – who grew up in a middle class neighbourhood and was one of five children – told Sahara Reporters that some of them had not even been on a plane before.

Speaking to Neusroom in 2022, Richard Ogunderu’s father Yemi described him as ‘strong-willed and obstinate’.

He added: ‘[Richard] would tell me, “you old men just sat there bemoaning your fate, won’t you do something about this country?”

‘The relationship between us was beyond father and son. We relate like brothers. I didn’t even know when he became a member of MAD. He had never discussed activism with me even though he knew I’m highly opinionated about socio-political issues.’ 

Speaking to The Punch, one of the hijackers said they targeted this specific aircraft because it ‘flew the calibre of people we wanted to deal with’. 

As well as China’s vice president Rong Yiren, there were also top Nigerian government officials on board.

Speaking to the Sahara Reporters in 2009, Richard Ogunderu – who was the group’s leader – explained: ‘We were on a mission.

‘We wanted to show the evil [military] regime that young people were prepared to go the extra length to free Nigerians from the yoke of military dictatorship.’

He then revealed how he was the one to enter the cockpit, where he pointed a fake gun at the pilot and told him to redirect the plane. A fellow hijacker later claimed that Ogunderu pretended to be a student who wanted to look at the plane’s controls.

Although reports stated that Ogunderu wanted to land in Germany, the plane didn’t have enough fuel – as their planned journey should have only taken just over an hour.

As such, the hijacker settled on Niamey in Niger instead – where they were met with armed forces. 

While the aircraft was still in the air, the hijackers doused themselves in the six litres of fuel they had smuggled onto the plane and threatened to set themselves on fire if passengers didn’t follow orders. 

Threatening to blow up plane 

After the plane landed, the hijackers began negotiations with the police – with the foursome initially demanding they get more fuel so they could fly to Frankfurt.

When this was denied, they teenagers urged the government to recognise the results of the June Nigerian Presidential election.

If MKO Abiola was not sworn in as President in 78 hours, the teenagers claimed they would set the plane on fire.

In an interview with The Nollywood Reporter in July 2023, Richard explained how he was connected to a BBC journalist to ‘tell the world their message’.

He added: ‘I said we were going to burn the plane within 78 hours if our requests were not met. 

‘Of course, that was just a scare tactic. We’ve decided to let the pleading passengers go the next day.’ 

In the first two hours, the hijackers released women and children – before releasing a further 129 the following day, including the Chinese vice president.

However, they refused to give up the crew or Nigerian government workers. 

At first, the authorities offered not to arrest the hijackers – as long as they released the remaining hostages.

Ogunderu added: ‘We were not afraid, at that moment, death meant nothing to us.’

Rescue operation leaves one dead 

For four days, authorities held off on entering the aircraft – fearing the hijackers may detonate a bomb.

But on 28 October, police stormed the plane in the middle of the night.

‘They thought we were asleep, so they came under the cover of the night and fired several shots,’ Ogunderu said. ‘They bombarded the plane.’ 

The rescue operation claimed the life of crew member Ethel Igwe while Richard was also injured. One of the hijackers later said over 300 shots were fired during the mission.

Richard told the Nollywood Reporter: ‘I am deeply sorry about [Ethel’s] death, and that in itself was one of the reasons we were clamouring for democracy.

The military government was notorious for wanton killing and abuse of human rights. That should never have happened.’ 

Following this, the hijackers were arrested and were sentenced to over nine months in prison in Niger. They claim to have served their sentence in one small cell, which also served as a toilet.

Remembered as ‘heroes’ 

Despite the teenagers’ efforts, the interim military government was replaced by General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship.

The late dictator was in power from 1993 to 1998 and was the last successful military coup in the country’s history.

Although they were unsuccessful in achieving their goal, Richard Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal are seen by some as modern-day ‘heroes’.

Speaking to The Punch in 2023, Benneth Oluwadaisi said he wanted to ‘fight for the stability of democracy in Nigeria’.

In response to the report, one X user wrote: ‘These guys are heroes, honestly. The way they went about it, though, wasn’t plausible, but they have earned my respect for their courage and brevity.’

Another added: ‘In as much as this is a wrong thing to do, I’m proud of them. They fought for freedom, democracy and what they believed in.’