A High Court in the United Kingdom (UK) has ordered the closure of a Nigerian-owned church, Salvation Proclaimer Ministries Limited a.k.a. SPAC Nation, over alleged financial mismanagement and lack of transparency in its operations.
This decision on the church owned by Nigeria-born Tobi Adegboyega was revealed in a statement issued by The Insolvency Service, a UK government agency, after a High Court ruling by Judge Burton.
The statement reads: “Salvation Proclaimer Ministries Limited, more commonly known as SPAC Nation, was wound up in the public interest in the High Court on 9 June 2022 before Judge Burton.
“The court heard that SPAC Nation was incorporated in 2012, a charity set up to advance Christianity.
“Much of its charitable work was based in London, working particularly with vulnerable people, youth, and offenders.”
The court stated that SPAC Nation’s financial statements set aside £610,000 for its rent expenditure, but the church did not have a base of its own and hired venues across London to hold services at significant expense.
The chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, Edna Okhiria, noted that while the church initially had positive reviews and media attention, evidence obtained from allegations from former employees revealed otherwise.
“While SPAC Nation claimed it had noble intentions to support vulnerable and young people, our enquiries uncovered a different side of the charity.
“There were clear concerns around how the church group managed its affairs and SPAC Nation failed to properly account for income received from donations and other expenditures,” he said.
The Metropolitan Police and Charity Commission had launched investigations into the church’s activities after allegations about it came to light – having been first reported by HuffPost UK.
There were also claims its pastors allegedly pressured young people in the congregation to sell their own blood to raise funds in a practice referred to as “bleeding for seed”.
A report by online medium, www.icirnigeria.org, noted that SPAC Nation was renamed Nxtion Family in June 2020, a month after head pastor Tobi Adeboyega announced he was stepping down as leader, though he has remained at the helm of the organisation.
According to the statement, “The Insolvency Service received complaints about SPAC Nation before instigating its own confidential enquiries into the church group’s activities.”
