A Nigerian pastor whose church was shut down over an alleged £1.87 million fraud has lost his fight against deportation, despite claiming it would breach his human rights, a report by a UK news medium
An immigration tribunal has ruled that the pastor should be deported back to his native Nigeria after investigations, including by The Telegraph, exposed misuse of funds by his church.
His church was 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.
Describing a “charismatic” community leader of a large, well-organised church, his legal team claimed that he had “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 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.
However, the tribunal was told the Home Office contended “all is not as it seems”.
“Various manifestations of 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.
