By Pascal Ibe

Claim

Social media influencers on the X platform published a video of a man arrested for poisoning three sons after the pastor claimed they were wizards, alongside the claim that it happened recently.

Verdict

The video being circulated by these X users is MISLEADING. Checks by FACTWATCH Nigeria showed that the incident occurred in 2019 in Bayelsa State and NOT recently.

Full Text

The phenomenon of false prophecy among some Nigerian pastors is a significant concern that intertwines with the broader issues of unchecked religious authority, financial exploitation, and the manipulation of vulnerable congregants. While prophecy is a legitimate tenet in many Christian faiths, its abuse by certain individuals has led to widespread disillusionment and harm.

On Monday, social media influencers shared a video of a man arrested for poisoning three sons after the pastor claimed they were wizards, alongside the claim that it happened recently.

An X account, Teniola published the video with a caption that reads, “Omoh! Na everyday we dey see new things on this internet! He p0!soned his three children after his pastor claimed they were w!tches, only one survived.

The post by Teniola garnered 175k views and hundreds of reposts and likes.

Other X users, Chuks, and De PenKing also published the video on Monday.

FACTWATCH Nigeria also cited the claim on LindaIkejiblog.

Verification

Keyframes from the video were subjected to a Google Image Reverse Search, and results showed that TVC News first aired the report in 2019.

TVC News Nigeria published the video on its YouTube channel and wrote, “Police detain man for poisoning three sons”

In a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), published by Punch in 2019, Mr Aminu Saleh, the former Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, said that a father of three, Mr Samuel Sunday, was arrested for poisoning his three children with a popular household pesticide, Sniper.

The ex police commissioner told newsmen at the crime scene in Bayelsa that two of the children died after drinking sniper while the third one survived.

Check out this similar report here and here.

Conclusion

The video being circulated by these X users is six years old. Therefore, it’s MISLEADING.