A Canadian federal court has ordered the deportation of Lucky Bidemi Olorunfemi, a pastor who was based in Ondo state, after discovering that he bribed members of the Nigerian police Force to declare him wanted as part of a fabricated persecution story to back his asylum claim.

Justice McHaffie of the federal court in Toronto delivered the ruling on October 16, upholding a decision by the refugee protection division that found Olorunfemi’s materials lacked credibility and bore signs of being doctored.

Olorunfemi filed for refugee status in 2023 after relocating to Canada.

He claimed that his pro-LGBTQ teachings and tolerance of gay congregants angered muslim jihadis who sought to take his life.

In one instance, he claimed irate Muslims torched his church and chased him to a police station in March 2022.

According to Olorunfemi, the incident led him to go into hiding for a year. It was from there that he processed his visa to flee to Canada.

To substantiate his claims, Olorunfemi submitted four documents, but McHaffie of the Canadian federal court questioned their authenticity, asserting they were riddled with errors and bore signs of fraud.

The Nigerian national was represented by Abdul-Rahman Kadiri in the matter heard in the Toronto court.

The documents include a newspaper excerpt reporting the attempt on Olorunfemi’s life, an invitation from the Nigerian police to question him about the incident dated April 2022, his wife’s medical report following an attack in June 2024, and a wanted poster “Issued by the authority of the Odoua [sic] peoples congress”.

But the refugee protection division picked holes in the documents, particularly that the newspaper report was so poorly written and contained blunders that it resembled brown paper journalism.

The judge noted that there was no direct link to the story, save for a generic website link.

Another red flag, the division noted, was that the wording of the newspaper report was almost verbatim as Olorunfemi’s allegations.

“The RPD next set out why it considered it more likely than not that the newspaper report, which was ‘riddled with spelling and grammatical errors and recounts the claimant’s allegations using language obviously similar to that of his narrative,’ was an example of ‘brown envelope journalism,’ fabricated at Olorunfemi’s direction.

“It made similar conclusions regarding the letter from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the medical report, and the wanted poster, each of which had glaring authenticity concerns,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

McHaffie said the Nigerian pastor did not provide any credible reason to counter the RPD.

Also at issue was the wanted poster reportedly issued by the Odoua [sic] Peoples Congress.

Several misspellings, including Oodua as Odoua and Yoruba as “youruba,” and other inconsistencies led the refugee division to further doubt the documents’ authenticity.

“This led the RPD to conclude that the poster was fraudulent even without having to note that the poster, which bears Olorunfemi’s picture, identifies him as someone with a different name entirely,” McHaffie said.

McHaffie stressed that Olorunfemi’s wanted poster lacked any contact information, unlike similar letter specimens from the Nigerian police archived by the Canadian government.

The judge countered Olorunfemi’s assertions that the RPD denied his request on the basis of minor infractions, stressing that the Nigerian national had built his case on the documents and could not now turn around to label the discrepancies as minor.

He rebuked Olorunfemi for faulting the RPD for not making further enquiries to verify the documents, when it was Olorunfemi who submitted papers that lacked any contact details.

The medical report, according to McHaffie, only had a postal address and a Gmail address but no telephone number.

The court also noted contradictions in Olorunfemi’s testimony, including his claim of limited English language proficiency, which was undermined when the division saw he responded to his own counsel in flawless spoken English.

After hearing Olorunfemi’s arguments, McHaffie sided with the RPD that while Olorunfemi’s arguments were not credible, the only fact that could be established in his case was that he was truly a Nigerian based on his passport and testimony.

The judge dismissed Olorunfemi’s request for a review of his asylum denial due to his failure to remain consistent in his testimony and to buttress his application with credible documents.

“The application for judicial review is dismissed,” the judge ruled.

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The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has arrested six suspected members of a notorious “one-chance” syndicate operating beneath the Ijora Bridge corridor in Lagos.

The suspects were apprehended on Thursday, during a joint inter-agency enforcement operation aimed at dismantling illegal garages, shanties, and criminal hideouts around Apapa Road, Costain, and Ijora under bridge.

The operation, led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, involved officers from the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), and the Nigerian Army.

A statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, said items recovered from the suspects included 77 stolen mobile phones, two POS machines, multiple wristwatches, and other personal belongings believed to have been taken from unsuspecting commuters.

Those arrested have been identified as Adetunji Bashiru (28), Sulaiman Kada (35), Abubakar Bala (42), Abubakar Ahmed (28), Rasaq Gbadamosi (21), and Ibrahim Yakub (23).

Preliminary investigations revealed that the Ijora under-bridge area had long served as a criminal enclave, harbouring miscreants, illegal traders, and “one-chance” syndicates who specialize in attacking and robbing commuters. The area also served as a storage point for stolen items and contraband goods.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the Ijora under-bridge axis had long served as a criminal enclave, accommodating miscreants, illegal traders, and “one-chance” syndicates who specialize in orchestrated theft, violent assaults, and dispossession of innocent citizens. The area had also evolved into a clandestine storage hub for stolen valuables and contraband goods,” Adebayo stated.

During the exercise, enforcement officers also confiscated several kegs of adulterated diesel and over 150 packs of expired snacks found under unsanitary conditions.

More than 120 illegal shanties, including those erected along the fence of St. Peter’s Catholic Nursery and Primary School, Apapa Road, were demolished.

Giwa reiterated the Lagos State Government’s commitment to maintaining a safe and habitable environment while warning criminal elements and illegal occupants to vacate public spaces immediately.

He said the operation was part of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s ongoing efforts to ensure a safer, cleaner, and more habitable metropolis.

LASTMA’s General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commended the synergy among participating agencies, describing the exercise as a model of inter-agency cooperation.

He emphasised that LASTMA’s role goes beyond traffic management to include ensuring public safety, protecting transport infrastructure, and preventing criminal activities within transport corridors.

The arrested suspects, according to the agency, will be handed over to appropriate law enforcement authorities for further investigation and prosecution.

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