Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has recounted an experience of abduction and robbery while visiting Bucharest, Romania.
Soyinka disclosed that he was in the country for the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the world’s largest performing arts festivals, where he was scheduled to be honoured.
According to the renowned literary icon, his anticipation for the festival turned to shock shortly after he arrived in Bucharest after midnight.
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After missing the party that was supposed to receive him at the airport, he entered what seemed like an official taxi headed to the Novotel Hotel, where he was supposed to stay.
In an unexpected turn of events, the driver made a diversion to a remote, dimly lit area.
“At nearly 1 a.m., the driver stopped in an unfamiliar place and revealed a POS machine, urging me to enter my pin.
“I had to enter it without seeing the screen because he kept hiding it. For about 25 to 30 minutes, I deliberately entered the wrong pin, buying time, hoping someone would appear — maybe someone from the hotel or a passerby. But the place was completely deserted,” Soyinka said.
What happened next was a tense confrontation inside the taxi, and the driver continued probing him while insisting on the pin.
Eventually, Soyinka was dropped near the hotel after what he called an unsettling encounter.
He revealed that he was robbed of cash, and he did not check whether or not it was refunded.
“Not that I like to lose money. But for me it’s much smaller. It’s not just an attack on me as an individual; it’s an assault on the community,” he shared.
Soyinka was picked up the following day and safely taken to Sibiu for the festival, expressing disappointment in the lukewarm response from local authorities, adding that the incident was quietly contained by the police who failed to inform him of any progress.
“There were certain aspects of the handling of the case that really troubled me, which I plan to detail in the next edition of my Intervention Series,” he noted.
“It’s not just an attack on me as an individual; it’s an assault on the community. The entire episode felt surreal and deeply unnerving,” Soyinka added.
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