Police have charged five men in Nigeria with murder after the group's leader said in a television documentary he had killed 110 children he believed to be possessed by evil spirits, officials said today.

Sunday Okon William, locally known as Bishop Ulup-Aya, and six others in his group were arrested in Akwa Ibom state in southeastern Nigeria in December after the documentary was shown internationally.

"He and four others were charged with murder yesterday. He confessed to a foreign-based media house that he killed 110 children," state information commissioner Aniekan Umanah said.

William has since recanted his statement, saying he only killed the "witchcraft spirit" in the children.

A federal court hearing is due on June 6 in Akwa Ibom.

Rights campaigners say fraudulent pastors or "witchdoctors" in some parts of Nigeria convince parents that their children are possessed and will bring misfortune such as divorce or disease, in order to extort money to perform exorcisms.

Some accused children fall into the hands of child trafficking networks after being handed over by their parents.

Akwa Ibom is one of Nigeria's top oil-producing states but poverty is pervasive and many are superstitious. The state has the highest incidence of child-trafficking in Africa's most populous nation, and belief in witchcraft is widespread.