Motorcycle taxi drivers in the village of Gwagwalada, Abuja, in central Nigeria, are threatening to strike unless a passenger, Mohammed Ma’aji, returns a penis that they allege the white "spiritual pigeon" he was carrying stole from one of their number. Yes, to be honest, it's not a sentence I thought I'd be writing this morning.

"It is a clear case of penis theft", Musa Abubakar explained to the police, "and mine is not the only penis to have been stolen lately". Unperturbed by the loss of an organ, 35-year-old Abubakar was able to drag the suspect to the local police station, where Ma'aji vigorously protested his innocence. Unfortunately, he was unable to sway the Motorcycle Transport Union, who are threatening to take the case to court if the missing member is not returned within 24 hours.

How did this happen? "I drove this man to three different places. On our way back to our point of departure, he squeezed his legs tightly around me which made feel sick and weak immediately”, he told police. Naturally his first instinct was to check his penis. "Immediately I stopped to check... but found nothing in my trouser. Then I noticed that the pigeon Ma'aji was carrying has changed from white to black, and I realized he had used a spiritual pigeon to steal my penis".

A pigeon hunts...

Mohammed Ma’aji, the passenger, has protested his innocence, offering a somewhat more cynical explanation. "I already have one, what do you want me to do with his?... concerning the pigeon, a holy man gave it to me to hand it over to a poor man. It is likely that Abubakar lost his penis yesterday evening with a woman". Surely not!

Afrik.com, who picked up the story from the News Agency of Nigeria, say that "In a very serious tone, the Gwagwalada police chief said his men were trying to get the object of crime." They note that "rumours of genital organ theft by “witches” are frequent in Nigeria as well as other countries in the region where “juju”, an older version of voodoo, is practiced."

Travellers beware...