Nigerian Bikers' Vegetable Helmets
A new law which came into force on New Year’s Day in Nigeria forcing motorcyclists to wear helmets has seen an increase in an improvised helmet: dried pumpkin shells, or calabashes.
Road safety officials said calabash-wearers would be prosecuted. Stories have also appeared in the local papers highlighting passengers’ fears that the helmets could be used by motorcyclists to cast spells on their clients, making it easy for them to be robbed.
“Some people can put juju inside the helmets and when they are worn the victim can either lose consciousness or be struck dumb,” passenger Kolawole Aremu told the Daily Trust newspaper.
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