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Nigerians Discussing My Deportation Need Rice, Not Answers — Pastor Tobi Adegboyega Knocks Critics

Published

10 months ago

December 9, 2024

Editor

The founder of the Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, commonly known as SPAC Nation, Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, has dismissed ongoing reports about alleged plans by the United Kingdom government to deport him.

Adegboyega, who spoke while ministering to the congregation in his UK-based church on Sunday, said those spreading the reports are merely seeking attention.

Unfazed by the deportation allegations, the embattled pastor likened the individuals discussing the claims to “dogs barking at each other,” asserting that they are not addressing him or his church.

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

The 44-year-old cleric added, “Nigerians are the last people to answer, they need rice, not answers,” emphasising that he does not owe any explanations to his detractors.

READ SLSO: UK To Deport Popular Nigerian Pastor, Tobi Adegboyega

“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.

Recall that in a copy of the ruling of the upper tribunal obtained by The PUNCH reported that Adegboyega be deported to Nigeria after he was alleged to have stayed in the UK on an expired visa.

The court ruled that the controversial pastor arrived in the UK on a visitor’s visa in 2005 but did not leave when it expired, but sought to remain in the European country on human rights grounds. He had married a British citizen.

After the Home Office denied his request, he appealed to the first-tier tribunal, which also turned him down.

Subsequently, he appealed to the upper tribunal on August 15, 2022.

The controversial pastor, through his lawyer, Dele Olawanle, told the tribunal that his church had initiated various intervention programmes to rescue troubled youths on the streets of the UK from gangs and crime.

Adegboyega also argued that his deportation would harm his projects and community influence, which he claimed had been supported and recognised by prominent UK figures, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior figures within the Metropolitan Police.

He also claimed that he had played an instrumental role in setting up a food bank which had provided 136,000 meals for children, adding 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”.

Adegboyega added that he established a network of safe houses throughout London where he accommodated young people trying to avoid gang conflicts.

But the upper tribunal judges, Bruce and Rastogi, insisted that Adegboyega must return to Nigeria despite his arguments.

PUNCH

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UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

11 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

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Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

14 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

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Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

16 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.