The Lead Pastor of Harvesters International Christian Center (HICC), Pastor Bolaji Idowu, has dismissed widespread social media reports claiming his arrest and involvement in real estate fraud and money laundering.

Addressing the matter during his popular Next Level Prayer programme on Wednesday morning, Pastor Idowu categorically denied the allegations, emphasizing his lack of involvement in the real estate business.

“Over the last 24 hours, there has been a lot of news about me on social media. I just want to state some facts,” he said. “I heard that I was involved in real estate. Firstly, I do not have any property in Nigeria. The only property I have in Nigeria is one everyone know. Secondly, I do not sell or buy properties. I am not in that business.”

The pastor further addressed claims concerning financial misconduct, inviting scrutiny into his financial dealings. “My accounts are public accounts. Go and check if I ever received billions into my accounts,” he stated.

These remarks come amidst a storm of speculation following a report by Sahara Reporters alleging that Pastor Idowu was arrested and under investigation by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigerian police for alleged financial crimes.

Pastor Idowu, known for the leadership of his church and prayer programmes such as the Next Level Prayer Conference, continues to lead HICC, a church known across Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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.

An immigration tribunal has ruled that Tobi Adegboyega, 44, the cousin of John Boyega, the Star Wars actor, should be deported back to his native Nigeria after investigations, including by The Telegraph, exposed misuse of funds by his church.

Mr Adegboyega was head of SPAC Nation, a controversial church 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 with SPAC.

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 [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,” according to the judgment.

‘Selling their own blood’
“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.”

Mr 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.

However, 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 Mr 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.”

The Telegraph UK

The Nigerian police have released the Lead Pastor of the Harvesters International Christian Center (HICC), Bolaji Idowu, from its custody after big shots in the Aso Rock Villa, which is the seat of the Nigerian government and some clerics in the country “intervened”, Society Reporters has learnt.

It was reported that Pastor Idowu was arrested by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for alleged N1.5billion fraud.

It had also been reported that Idowu would spend the night in the custody of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigerian police over the allegations.

Meanwhile, in an update to us by top police sources late on Tuesday evening, it was revealed that the pastor was released after some forces in the Aso Rock Villa and some top pastors in the country mounted pressure on the Nigerian police.

“Pastor Bolaji was released late into the evening after big pastors and President Tinubu’s Aso Villa intervened in the matter,” one of the top police sources revealed.

“He has been asked to pay back the money traced to his account in two weeks,” the authoritative source added.

Sahara Reporters earlier exclusively reported that police operatives from the FCID were grilling Pastor Idowu, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

We had learnt from top police sources that Idowu, who is also popularly known as the “Next-Level Prayer Conference” pastor was arrested and is under probe for alleged real estate fraud and money laundering.

“The case emanated from one of his pastors who duped several people in a real estate scheme,” one of the top sources had revealed.

“The police investigation showed that several billions of naira in the scheme were traced first to Pastor Bolaji’s church account and later to his personal account,” the source had added.

Pastor Idowu started the church in December 2003.

Over the years, it has expanded locations across Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

According to the church website, the Harvesters church attracts over 70,000 worshippers both online and onsite.

Pastor Idowu’s “Next Level Prayers” is a platform where participants offline and online are encouraged to build a prayer life