Netflix’s Hijack ’93 is a riveting new release that dramatizes a true incident from Nigerian history—an audacious hijacking that shook the country in October 1993. Here’s a closer look at the real-life events that inspired the film and the reasons this act of defiance is remembered by some as heroic.

Political Turmoil in Nigeria: The Road to Hijack ’93

The hijacking of Nigeria Airways Flight 764 came during a period of intense political unrest in Nigeria. In the 1980s and 1990s, the nation experienced a series of coups that undermined its democracy, as military leaders claimed power time and again. In 1993, a hopeful shift seemed on the horizon as Nigeria held its first elections in over a decade. Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, a leader of the Social Democratic Party, won by a landslide, but the military government annulled the results, claiming security risks. This decision ignited mass protests, as...