A Nigerian controversial pastor based in the United Kingdom, Pastor Tobi Adegboyega whose church was shut down over alleged £1.87 million fraud has lost his case against deportation, despite claiming it would breach his human rights.
The UK immigration tribunal ruled that Tobi Adegboyega, 44, the cousin of John Boyega, the Star Wars actor, should be deported back to Nigeria after investigations over misuse of funds by his church.
Adegboyega was the head of SPAC Nation. The church was shut down after failing to properly account for more than £1.87 million of outgoings and operating with a lack of transparency.
Adegboyega who is married to a British woman, claimed his deportation would breach his right under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to a family life. 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 described him as a “charismatic” community leader of a large, well-organised church, that has “intervened in the lives of many hundreds of young people, predominantly from the black communities in London, to lead them away from trouble”.
He also claimed his work had been “lauded” by politicians including Boris Johnson and senior figures within the Metropolitan Police, although no testimony by them was submitted to the court. He said that without his personal presence in London, projects that he had masterminded would fall apart or reduce in size.
The tribunal believed otherwise because the Home Office contended “all is not as it seems”.
The judgement further states that “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.”
With allegations of asking members to sell blood for donations, “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.”
It was said that, 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
“(Mr. 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.”
