Mostly gentle sniping can be found in the comments section of the blog post where I found the link to the article in the bookmark below on my profile, one which briefly answers the question "what was all of that about".

WARNING: The page ahead is in .pdf format, and may cause problems for those who don't have adobe uploaded on their systems, or those using older browsers. In Senegal and the Congo, rioting have already occured over this - allegations that strangers (sometimes foreigners) have stolen the penises of the men that they've shaken hands with or merely touched. It's witchcraft, you know. It would almost be funny, if nobody had been hurt, but some of the accused witches have been killed. This is a paper I found linked to about the phenomenon. See link above, on my bookmark list. Note the non-.edu address. I can't vouch for the credentials of the authors, so read this one with guarded skepticism. That having been said, Reuters has reported these incidents - this is not an urban legend.