Nobel laureate and playwright, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has narrated a frightening experience of being abducted and robbed after arriving in Bucharest, Romania, for the Sibiu International Theatre Festival.
According to Wole Soyinka, the incident happened shortly after midnight when he missed his official hosts at the airport and decided to take what appeared to be an official taxi to his hotel.
The driver, instead of heading directly to the destination, kept driving past expected stops before eventually pulling over in a remote, poorly lit area around 1 a.m.
Soyinka said the driver then produced a point-of-sale (POS) machine and ordered him to input his card PIN.
Realising the danger, Wole Soyinka explained that he deliberately entered the wrong PIN several times to buy time and avoid being dispossessed of his funds.
“It was one of the most unnerving experiences I’ve had in recent travels,” he recounted, adding that the driver’s persistence created a tense standoff before he eventually managed to get away and continue with his planned engagements.
Despite the ordeal, Soyinka still attended the festival, where he was honoured as a special guest and celebrated with an imprint on the festival’s Walk of Fame.
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