- Accuses authorities of complicity
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has accused the Romanian Government and Police of complicity in the way they handled a robbery incident in Bucharest, the country’s capital.
Soyinka was in the city to attend the Sibiu International Theatre Festival. He was robbed after he left the airport on his way to the hotel and despite reporting the incident to the authorities, nothing was done.
The nonagenarian, who expressed disappointment that the police appeared to contain the matter quietly without giving him updates, narrated how he was abducted and robbed.
He said at the Bucharest Airport, he missed the reception party meant to welcome him and he immediately boarded what appeared to be an official taxi to his hotel.
Then, the drama leading to the robbery started. Instead of heading to Novotel Hotel, the driver veered 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, who marked his 91st birthday in July, said he stalled for nearly half an hour, deliberately entering incorrect pin number to buy time.
“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”.
The abductor eventually dropped him close to his hotel after extracting money from his account. “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.
“It’s not just an attack on me as an individual; it’s an assault on the community. To me, the incident underscores the dangers of organised crime and the need for accountability”.
