Nigerian born self acclaimed pastor, Tobi Adegboyega whose church was shut down in the United Kingdom over an alleged £1.87 million fraud ha
Nigerian born self acclaimed pastor, Tobi Adegboyega whose church was shut down in the United Kingdom over an alleged £1.87 million fraud has lost his fight against deportation, despite claiming it would breach his human rights.
An immigration tribunal has ruled that the 44 year old who is a cousin to movie star, John Boyega, should be deported back to his country, Nigeria after investigations exposed the misuse of funds by his church.
Adegboyega was head of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, SPAC Nation or SPAC Nation Ministries, a controversial church shut down after failing to properly account for more than £1.87 million of outgoings and operating with a lack of transparency.
He claimed deportation would breach his right under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to a family life – having married a British woman.
He also said the attempt to remove him by the Home Office failed to take account of his community work with SPAC.
His legal team describe his as a charismatic community leader of a large, well-organised church who had intervened in the lives of many hundreds of young people, predominantly from the black communities in London, to lead them away from trouble.
They claim his work had been lauded by politicians including former prime minister, Boris Johnson and senior figures within the Metropolitan Police.
He said that without his personal presence in London, projects that he had masterminded would fall apart or reduce in size.
However, the tribunal was told the Home Office are convinced all is not as it seems.
“Various manifestations of Adegboyega’s church have been closed down, by either the Charity Commission or the High Court, because of concerns over its finances and lack of transparency,” according to the judgment.
“Former members of the church have alleged that it is a cult, in which impoverished young people are encouraged to do anything they can to donate money, including taking out large loans, committing benefit fraud and even selling their own blood.
“It is alleged that the church leadership lead lavish lifestyles and there have, it is said, been instances of abuse. The Home Office’s case before us was that all of this needs to be taken into account when evaluating whether Adegboyega is in fact of real value to the UK.”
Adegboyega has lived in the UK unlawfully since overstaying on a visitor’s visa that allowed him to enter Britain in 2005. In 2019, he applied for leave to remain under ECHR’s right to a family life. His application was initially dismissed by a first-tier immigration tribunal before he appealed.
In the tribunal, he maintained no one had ever faced criminal charges over his church’s finances, that many of the attacks on him and SPAC Nation were politically motivated and that claims it was a cult were unfounded.
However, the tribunal was told the Charity Commission concluded there had been serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity which was sustained over a substantial period of time.
The tribunal also found Adegboyega’s evidence to be hyperbolic in many instances and had sought to grossly inflate his influence.
“We find it to be implausible that he has the time to undertake all of this work personally,” it said.
The tribunal concluded, “We are not satisfied that the good work that SPAC Nation undertakes generally would collapse or even significantly suffer should the Appellant be required to leave the UK.
“Weighing all of the foregoing in the balance we conclude that the decision to refuse leave to remain was wholly proportionate.
“Adegboyega seeks to rely on family and private life relationships, all of which have been established whilst he was in the UK unlawfully, and which would survive his return to Nigeria.
“The interference would therefore be limited, and lawful in all the circumstances.”
