A Nigerian pastor from Ondo State, Pastor Lucky Bidemi Olorunfemi, has been deported from Canada after a federal court in Toronto found that he falsified and bribed his way into fabricating evidence to support his asylum claim.
According to People Gazette Media, it was reported that the court presided over by Justice McHaffie, upheld a prior decision by the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) that dismissed Mr. Olorunfemi’s refugee application on grounds of fraud, document forgery, and lack of credibility.
According to court filings, the self-acclaimed pastor—who claimed to have led a church in Akure—sought refugee protection in 2023, alleging persecution from what he described as “Muslim Jihadists” for his open support and tolerance toward LGBTQ members in his congregation.
Mr. Olorunfemi claimed that his church was attacked and set ablaze in March 2022, and that he narrowly escaped death before taking refuge at a nearby police station. He further alleged that he went into hiding for nearly a year before securing a Canadian visa to flee Nigeria.
To back his claims, the pastor tendered four key documents: a newspaper report on the supposed attack, a letter of police invitation, a medical report for his wife allegedly injured during a later assault, and a wanted poster purportedly issued by the “Odoua [sic] Peoples Congress.”
However, the Refugee Protection Division found multiple inconsistencies in his evidence. The panel described the newspaper article as “riddled with spelling and grammatical errors” and noted that its narrative closely mirrored Mr. Olorunfemi’s own account, raising suspicion that it was ghostwritten or purchased.
Justice McHaffie agreed, noting that “the report bore all the hallmarks of brown envelope journalism,” a local term for paid or fabricated media coverage. The judge added that other documents—including the police invitation letter and medical report—were fraught with irregularities and lacked verifiable contact information.
