How I was robbed, abducted in Romania – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate and celebrated playwright, Wole Soyinka, has revealed a chilling ordeal of abduction and robbery during a recent visit to Bucharest, Romania.

The global literary icon was in the country to attend the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the world’s largest performing arts festivals, where he was set to be honoured.

As reported by PM News on Thursday, Soyinka made this known in an exclusive interview with TheNEWS/PMNEWS on Tuesday, September 9, in Lagos.

Soyinka narrated how his anticipation for the festival turned to shock shortly after he arrived in Bucharest after midnight. Having missed the party designated to receive him at the airport, Soyinka took what seemed to be an official taxi headed to the Novotel Hotel, where he was scheduled to stay. However, the driver instead diverted 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,” Soyinka recalled.

“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 described a tense confrontation inside the taxi, where the driver alternated between questioning him and insisting on the pin. He was eventually dropped near the hotel, but the harrowing episode left an unsettling impression.

Soyinka noted that the assailants succeeded in robbing him of money, though he has not checked whether it was later 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 said, stressing that the financial loss paled in comparison to the larger concerns of organised crime and accountability.

Despite the shock, Soyinka was picked up the following day and safely taken to Sibiu for the festival. He expressed disappointment in the tepid response from the local authorities, noting that police quietly contained the incident without informing 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,” Soyinka said.

Reflecting on the experience, Soyinka emphasised that the incident was not only a personal affront but highlighted broader concerns about crime and justice.

“It’s not just an attack on me as an individual; it’s an assault on the community,” he stated. “The entire episode felt surreal and deeply unnerving.”

Soyinka’s courage in sharing this experience underscores the challenges even celebrated figures can face abroad and the importance of vigilance and justice.