•Pastor Tobi
The British Government is set to deport popular pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, to Nigeria after losing his case against deportation at the immigration tribunal.
An immigration tribunal has ruled that Adegboyega, 44, should be deported to Nigeria after investigations uncovered financial misconduct at his church, reports The Nation.
He however argued that his deportation would infringe upon his right to a family life under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), citing his marriage to a British woman.
Here are 21 things to know about Pastor Tobi Adegboyega:
1. Tobi Adegboyega was born on November 11, 1980.
2. He is a Nigerian pastor.
3. He is the founder of the Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church (SPAC Nation, eventually known as the NXTION Family), a now defunct Pentecostal church formerly based in London, England.
4. Tobi Adegboyega moved to London from Lagos, Nigeria in 2005.
5. On arrival in London, he shared a room with his cousin, ‘Star Wars’ actor John Boyega, whilst once working as a kitchen porter.
6. They are both Yoruba by tribe.
7. Adegboyega started his former church SPAC Nation in 2008, with three members.
8. The church was based in Croydon, south London.
9. As pastor, he would encourage criminals to drop their weapons at the altar of his church during services, an act that received both praise and criticism from the public.
10. On May 20, 2020, Adegboyega reportedly stepped down as Lead Pastor of SPAC Nation and handed over the church to Samuel Akokhia, two years prior to its closure.
11. The announcement was then made via the church’s official Twitter handle.
12. A BBC Panorama investigation accused Adegboyega and other leaders of the church of financially exploiting members of the church.
13. Panorama interviewed members who made accusations of the church, and suggested Adegboyega be held accountable.
14. Panorama later released a video of Adegboyega, quoted as saying he believed it was “no big deal for members of the church to give at least £1,000 a month to the church”, and that he needed to make £1 million monthly.
15. A member of the church, Nino, claimed he was asked for £20,000 by Adegboyega, who said he needed it for an investment. While the church denied these allegations, Adegboyega declined an interview with Panorama.
16. In January 2020, his church was accused of financial exploitation and fraud by Croydon North MP Steve Reed, but as of February 2020, the police had said that they would not launch a criminal enquiry.
17. Many other allegations of financial misappropriation, fraud, domestic abuse, sexual abuse have been raised against his church, SPAC Nation and pastors of the church.
18. In 2019, SPAC Nation was accused of pressuring youths to sell blood.
19. In June 2022, Adegboyega’s SPAC Nation church was ordered to shut down for good by the U.K. government, after failing to properly account for more than £1.87 million of outgoings and operating with a lack of transparency.
20. Adegboyega lives in a £2.5 million mansion in Surrey.
21. In a 2020 interview, he stated he had been married for eight years.
