Soyinka: How I was kidnapped, robbed in Romania

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has disclosed how he was abducted and robbed during his visit to Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Soyinka, who disclosed that he was in Romania to attend the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, said he was robbed shortly after arriving in the European country.

The renowned author also accused the Romanian government and police of complicity in their handling of the robbery incident, saying that despite reporting the incident to the authorities, no meaningful action was taken.

Speaking in a recent interview with TheNEWS/PMNEWS, Soyinka added that the police allegedly contained the matter quietly without giving him any updates.

Narrating the incident, the 91-year-old playwright explained that after missing his reception party at the Bucharest Airport, he boarded what appeared to be an official taxi headed for his hotel.

Soyinka revealed that the driver diverted from the route to Novotel Hotel and drove into a deserted, 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 said.

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He revealed that he deliberately entered the wrong PIN repeatedly for nearly half an hour to stall for time, hoping for an intervention.

“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, hoping someone would appear, maybe someone from the hotel or a passerby. But the place was completely deserted,” he said.

Soyinka said his abductor eventually extracted money from his account before dropping him near his hotel.

While lamenting the loss, Soyinka stressed that his major concern was the failure of the authorities to handle the case transparently and decisively.

He added: “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.

“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.

“To me, the incident underscores the dangers of organised crime and the need for accountability.”

The Star