Popular Nigerian Pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, is set to be deported to Nigeria after losing his case to the UK government at the Immigration Tribunal.
Adeboyega’s church, SPAC Nation, had been shut down after investigations revealed misuse of church funds.
The UK authorities decided to close the church, after the controversial pastor failed to properly account for over £1.87 million.
The Telegraph reports that an immigration tribunal has now ruled that he should be deported after investigations.
Adeboyega arrived in the UK on a visitor’s visa in 2005 and has lived in the country unlawfully since then.
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.
Having been married to a British woman, Adeboyega claimed deportation would breach his right under the European Convention of Human Rights to a family life and failed to consider his community work with SPAC.
However, the Home Office ruled that “all is not as it seems” and dragged him before an immigration tribunal.
The judgment reads, “Various manifestations of [Mr 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.
“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 [Mr Adegboyega] is in fact of real value to the UK.”
Speaking at the tribunal, Adegboyega said that claims that his church was a cult were unfounded and that attacks on him and the church were politically motivated.
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