Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has narrated how he was abducted and robbed by a criminal gang posing as taxi operators during his recent trip to Romania for the Sibiu International Theatre Festival.
Soyinka, who travelled to Bucharest at the invitation of Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the General Assembly of UNESCO, said he arrived at the Romanian capital around 12:10 a.m. and was to spend the night in the city before proceeding to Sibiu.
Speaking in an interview in Lagos, the 90-year-old playwright said the ordeal began when he missed the party sent to pick him up at the airport and unknowingly boarded a taxi operated by criminals.
Instead of heading to his hotel, the driver diverted to a deserted location where he was coerced into surrendering his bank details under threats.
He was forced to input his PIN into a concealed POS machine while being detained inside the vehicle for nearly half an hour.
“I was in effect abducted, robbed, and abandoned in a strange place. It became a battle of wills inside the taxi, which almost turned violent,” Soyinka recounted.
He later managed to reach his hotel before being driven to Sibiu, where he was scheduled to receive a star on the Walk of Fame in recognition of his global contributions to literature and theatre.
The literary icon described the incident as “surreal” and noted that although the festival organisers reported the matter to the police, he was never informed of the outcome of their investigation.
According to him, the incident suggested the existence of an organised criminal network targeting unsuspecting visitors under the guise of official taxi services.
Soyinka, who has documented the experience in the forthcoming edition of his Intervention Series published by Bookcraft, said the robbery raised broader concerns about crime, punishment, and public safety.
“Losing money is not the real issue. For me, the matter goes beyond personal loss. It is an attack on the entire community,” he stressed.
The dramatist added that he chose to write about the ordeal to “unburden” himself, describing it as one of the most unsettling encounters of his recent travels.
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