Nigerian pastor Tobi Adegboyega speaks on his illegal stay in the UK

Nigerian pastor Tobi Adegboyega, who is at the center of a deportation dispute in the UK, claims he overstayed because he “lost track of time.”

The founder of the SPAC Nation church claimed in an interview, on Friday, that he entered the UK at the age of 25 in 2005 using a visitor’s visa but did not obtain a permit to remain there.

According to the pastor, he thought his immigration paperwork was being handled by his family.

In reference to the approximately ten-year wait for his application to regularize his immigration status, he remarked: “I lost track of time”.

The 44-year-old reportedly lost his fight to be deported from the UK due to a fictitious £1.87 million scam.

According to local sources, after investigations revealed that his church had misused donations, an immigration tribunal ordered Adegboyega’s deportation to Nigeria.

In the interview, the preacher, however, denied the accusations.

“There is no deportation order, let me make that clear”, he stated.

According to Adegboyega, the lawsuit is an “ongoing issue”, and the judges will ultimately determine his fate.

The pastor said that “disgruntled members” of his church were the source of the fraud accusations.

“How on earth do you run an organisation without disgruntled people?” he asked.

According to Adegboyega, his church has addressed gun violence in the UK and assisted in removing hundreds of knives from the streets.

The pastor, who has frequently worn upscale clothing, responded to criticism of his extravagant lifestyle by saying, “I put on what is right, what connects to the generation I’m speaking to, so they are not attracted to drug dealers”.

Earlier…

Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, the founder of the Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, also referred to as SPAC Nation, refuted reports that the UK government intends to deport him.

Pastor Adegboyega asserted to the crowd at his church in the United Kingdom that those spreading the stories are merely doing so to garner publicity.

The clergyman likened the dispute between the parties to “dogs barking at each other.”

He asserted that neither he nor his congregation are being addressed by them.

He had previously dismissed the deportation charges.

“They are not talking to me or my church SPAC Nation”, he said.

“Nigerians are the last people to answer, they need rice, not answers”, the 44-year-old preacher continued.

He highlighted that he owes his critics no explanations.

“When the local dogs finish backing because they are busy backing at each other, they will still find us here, they will be escorted back to their pages. They are busy talking to themselves not me”, he added.

Adegboyega was reportedly going to be returned to Nigeria after it was alleged that he had stayed in the UK on an expired visa.

The court claims that the pastor violated human rights by staying in the UK after his visitor’s visa expired in 2005.

His wife was a citizen of Britain.

After the Home Office denied his plea, he appealed to the first-tier tribunal, but they denied it as well.

On August 15, 2022, he then filed an appeal with the higher tribunal.

The pastor informed the tribunal through his lawyer, Dele Olawanle, that his church had launched several intervention initiatives to shield problematic youngsters from gangs and criminality on UK streets.

Adegboyega also argued that his deportation would harm his community influence and projects, which he said were supported and acknowledged by prominent UK figures, including senior Metropolitan Police officers and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Additionally, he stated that he “intervened in the lives of many hundreds of young people, predominantly from the black communities in London, to lead them away from trouble”.

He claimed to have played a key role in the creation of a food bank that has provided 136,000 meals for kids.

Adegboyega went on to state that he established a network of safe houses in London where he provided housing for young individuals trying to avoid becoming involved in gang conflicts.

The superior tribunal’s justices, Bruce and Rastogi, asked Adegboyega to return to Nigeria in spite of his protests.

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