Pastor Daniel Debunks False Claims of Christian Preachers Taming Lions

A video of a man in a suit interacting with three lions has gone viral in multiple African countries. However, contrary to online claims, the man is not a church pastor demonstrating his supernatural abilities to tame the lions. In the video, the man, dressed in a blue suit, can be seen playing with the lions, even putting his hand inside one of their mouths. Onlookers are observing from outside the enclosure, some capturing the moment on camera. The video itself is authentic and does not seem to be manipulated. Despite widespread online claims that the man is a pastor recreating the Biblical story of Daniel in the lions' den to showcase his powers, this is not the case. One blogger in Nigeria even stated, "Pastor Daniel brought his church members to show them that nothing can happen to a man of God." The video has been widely shared in Ghana and Nigeria, but its origin can be traced back to Somalia. A local television station in Kenya also shared the video on its social media platforms, catching the attention of Member of Parliament Ronald Karauri. Karauri jokingly challenged the man to walk with lions in Maasai Mara National Park, offering to cover all expenses. However, the BBC has managed to identify the man, and he is not a church leader. Through a reverse image search, it was discovered that the enclosure seen in the viral video matches one in a news story filmed at a tourist park in Mogadishu, Somalia. The man interviewed in the previous video was identified as Mohamed Abdirahman Mohamed, who has been working as a zookeeper at the park for over eight years. Further investigation led to the original video being posted on a TikTok account associated with the park. There are additional videos of Mohamed interacting with the lions, with the oldest one posted in March of this year. A Facebook page for the park also promoted the lions as an attraction during the Muslim festival of Eid in April. In a previous interview with BBC Somali, Mr. Mohamed stated that he has trained the animals he cares for, including lions and snakes, and considers them safe to handle. He showcased his skills by playing with a python and even placing its head in his mouth. Mr. Mohamed learned about caring for wild animals on his own and is confident in his abilities, considering them harmless and like his children. However, incidents of captive lions and other animals attacking humans are not uncommon, as demonstrated by a fatal lion mauling incident in a zoo enclosure in Accra, Ghana, last year.