By John Faluyi
As important as this story stands in the history of our nation’s struggle for democracy it is a shame that not many of our teenagers* *know much about it. There is no better day to put the story out than on June 12
On October 25, 1993. Four (4) dissatisfied Nigerian teenagers hijacked a Nigerian Airways airbus A310 that was flying from Lagos to Abuja* *and diverted the plane to Niamey, Niger Republic.*
*They were dissatisfied by the annulment of June 12* *elections by the military Head of States, Gen Ibrahim* *Babangida.*
*The young Nigerians, Richard* *Ogunderu* *was 19, Kabir Adenuga was 18, Benneth Oluwadaisi was 20 and Kenny Rasaq Lawal 19.*
*They were* *students of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).*
*They all unassumingly boarded the flight at MMA alongside other passengers.*
*About 16mins before* *landing,* *they waited until the pilot announced that passengers should fasten their seat belts and prepare for landing. Next thing the* *passengers heard was:
*
* *QUOTE*
“ *Ladies and gentlemen, this plane has been taken over by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy.* *Remain calm, we will not harm you. You will be told where the plane will land you. You do not move or you die”.*
*END OF QUOTE*
*The leader of the hijackers, Richard Ogunderu a 19 year old, walked into the cockpit and seized the process, and* *then one other followed. Two remained to watch over the passengers. When he got to the cockpit, the pilot knew immediately this was an* *attack, so he had to obey instructions given to him.*
*Ogunderu then asked the pilot to divert the aircraft straight to Germany. The pilot convinced him the plane did not carry sufficiently fuel to crossover the Atlantic and* *then suggested they divert to a nearby country, Niger or they will crash and everybody dies.*
*The two hijackers told the pilot what they wanted was where they could give publicity to their reason for* *the hijack. They told him they wanted Germany, because they could have a good press coverage that would support their democratic cause for* *Nigeria. But that couldn’t happen because of the fuel shortage.*
*They agreed to land in Niamey, Niger Republic. Upon landing the hijackers found themselves surrounded by hundreds of armed Nigeriène* *soldiers at the airport. They had earlier distributed their demands in a pamphlets among the passengers calling on the* *Nigerian government to overturn the annulment of the June 12 election. They gave the government 72 hours to meet their demands or else* *they would set the plane ablaze.*
*To show they were not ready to kill anyone so long govt listen to them, they released 34 of the 193 passengers,* *among whom were top Nigerian government officials.*
*The leader of the hijackers spoke to a BBC correspondent. The correspondent asked what* *they were fighting for, and he told him, they wanted to actualize the mandate given by the Nigerian people to* *M.K.O Abiola.*
*Nigerian government under Chief Ernest Shonekan sent 24 delegates to come and talk to the hijackers, but none of* *them entered the aircraft to talk to them, instead they were in the hotel, asking them to come down.*
*The Nigeriene soldiers did not storm the plane because..the hijackers claimed to have rigged the plane with explosives, and so began* *negotiations, keeping the remaining passengers hostage.*
*For three days, the hijackers and the passengers fed on coffee & biscuits.*
*_At some point, they ran out of water for coffee, one passengers demanded for water. Under the guise of bringing them water and_* *food, the Nigeriène soldiers eventually realised the hijackers were not armed, and under the cover of* *darkness, they stormed the plane.*
*The four teenagers were arrested, cuffed hands behind their backs and taken straight to a prison cell. The hijackers* *spoke neither Hausa nor French and nobody made any attempt to* *question them in English.* *They were denied food for days.*
*The hijackers were remanded in Niamey Prison for 9years before they were released in 2002.*
*The Nigerian government* *didnt even* *brother requesting for them to be extradited. They wanted them away from Nigerian soil, to prevent them becoming a symbol of* *resistance to Nigeria’s youths.*
*TAKE HOME:- These TEENAGERS representated the generation of Nigerian youths of 1993. Intelligent,* *bold, patriotic and courageous. They courageously believed they could save Nigeria from the tyrannical steel claws of the* *military Junta.*
*Even as teenagers. They placed their lives on the chopping plank to save Nigeria. They weren’t asking for what Nigeria could do for* *them, they thought of what they could do for Nigeria.* *They were only teenagers, yet they wore the chest of warriors.*
