No evidence that so-called Satanic leader sacrificed 600 children

A viral video shows a masked man who claims he sacrificed 675 people, many of them children, to maintain his demonic powers. The confession, which originally aired on a Ghanaian talk show, and its translations have been shared across the discredited Neon Nettle, as well as the Daily Mail.

“Satanic leader confesses to sacrificing 675 children ‘gifted’ to him by doctors,” read the Neon Nettle headline on July 19.

We decided to investigate the so-called confession. Is it real, or another online hoax?

The interview

The story features screenshots from a video clip from a Ghanaian television show aired on Royal Television Ghana, also known as RTV. The man claiming to be a Satanic leader speaks with a deep voice, and hides his face with a children’s mask of Bumblebee from the Transformers movie franchise. The interviewer, a well-known television and radio presenter known as Otwinoko, does not identify the man.

The original interview with the so-called Satanic leader is nearly 30 minutes long, and is part two of a series entitled “DARKNESS IN CHURCHES.” The interview is conducted in Akan, a language native to Ghana. It has been summarized in English by Ghanaian news site Yen.

According to the translation, the man claimed he lived with Satan for 17 years, and would conduct routine sacrifices to sustain his power. Evil doctors gave him these sacrifices, he said, many of whom were children. He also said that he was in control of over 600 demonic spirits.

While there have been multiple local reports about the show itself, none have mentioned any police investigation into the issue. More widely, there have been no news reports of human sacrifice or doctors kidnapping children in Ghana.

The Otwinoko Show

Otwinoko, whose real name is Kwabena Asare, specializes in spiritual outrage. He vigorously questions his guests, supposed anti-Christian magicians, but doesn’t release their identities.

He has dozens of other videos online, many of which follow a similar style to the interview with this Satanic leader. In one video, titled “PASTOR’S EVIL DEEDS EXPOSED,” the thumbnail is a fiery 666. In another, he discusses the signs of the Antichrist. Debunking false prophets appears to be a routine feature on the show.

As an individual, Otwinoko maintains a mystical persona. He is visually impaired, and he claims that jealous fellow journalists used voodoo to cause his blindness.

Our ruling

The article by Neon Nettle claimed that “a Satanic cult leader has confessed to carrying out more than 600 child sacrifices.” A man did confess this on a Ghanaian television show.

The article does acknowledge that there have been no reports of mass child killings in Ghana, Satanic or otherwise. But, Neon Nettle fails to mention that this show has a long sensationalist history of interviewing supposed spiritual deviants and granting them anonymity.

We rate this claim Half True.