The United Kingdom has partnered with three Nigerian filmmakers in the production of ‘Hijack 93: The Mad Men & The Aircraft’ a Nigeria-United Kingdom co-production that tells the true-life story of the 1993 plane hijack.
The movie is a creative mission by two prolific film production companies in Nigeria, Play Network Studios and Native Media TV, in collaboration with UK-based filmmaker, Femi Oyeniran.
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The co-production, largely supported by the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), which has been actively seeking and facilitating UK-Nigeria co-productions in the film and TV space, and the British Film Institute, aims to tell the legendary African story through the prism of motion pictures.
In 1993, four self-proclaimed “MAD Men”, Nigerian teenagers championing a Movement for the Actualization of Democracy, found themselves on board an aircraft heading to Abuja from Lagos. Midway into the travel, the “MAD Men” overpowered both crew and passengers and hijacked the plane.
After several attempts to coerce the pilot to reroute the flight to Frankfurt, Germany, in a protest showing their dissatisfaction with the series of events that followed the June 12 elections that democratically elected Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, MKO Abiola, as the Nigerian president-elect, they explored the option of landing the plane at Niamey, Niger Republic, where they held the plane hostage for 70 hours with demands to enthrone democracy in Nigeria.
In 2019, multiple award-winning filmmaker and CEO of Play Network Studios, Charles Okpaleke, announced his initiative to create a movie based on this true-life story.
“I’ve just approved the final draft of this exciting thriller, and my team and I are set to commence principal photography,” he said.
He added, “The co-production will be a work of marvel between three Nigerian critically acclaimed producers — Rogers Ofime, Agozie Ugwu and I — and one of the finest UK producers and filmmakers, Femi Oyeniran.”
Rogers Ofime is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, who produced movies such as Voiceless and Olobiri, while Agozie Ugwu is a highly cerebral film director and producer, who produced the recently released Aki and Pawpaw for Play Network Studios.
Femi Oyeniran is one of the finest British producers and directors with an avalanche of experience in filmmaking, including writing an episode on the Netflix Original series ‘Turn Up Charlie’ by Idris Elba.
Charles Okpaleke, the man behind the initiative, with award-winning movies including but not limited to Living in Bondage, Rattlesnake: the Ahanna Story and Glamour Girls, brings to the partnership his innovation, audacity and dedication to excellence.
