Nigeria, May 12 -- What ought to be a celebration of culture and tradition, on Sunday, turned into a day of mourning for residents of Awka, Anambra State Capital,as a tricycle crushed a masquerade to death, leaving its head openduring the Imo Awka Festival.

The Imo Awka festival is held in May yearly to celebrate the town's god, symbolized by a monkey.

The festival is widely known in Awka, and despite the prevalence of monkeys in the town and the havoc they wreak, no one dares harm it.

Though the celebration spans a week in May, to drum up awareness for the upcoming event, masquerading youths take to the streets in masquerade costumes long before its commencement.

They also carry canes, which compete with other masquerades in flogging...