How a London church with a criminal pastor is bringing peace to Bloodshed Britain
CONVICTED criminal Pastor Kevin Yfeko watches nervously as two rival gangs dressed in balaclavas arrive outside the church carrying knives.
It's a scene that would leave most people terrified - but ex-gang member Kevin has asked them here in a bid to quash any rivalry and to help end knife crime in the capital for good.
He's become a young preacher at SPAC Nation, a church that’s on a mission to stop knife crime by helping some of the most dangerous gang members in England get out of gangland by asking them to bring their weapons to an amnesty at worship.
“London is in a state of violence, deaths, shootings, stabbings. We were once the cause of it, so who is better to try and change it?” the ex-criminal says.
“I’ve been in trouble for murder and attempted murder, twice. I went to prison for shootings, countless amounts of times. My life has been a trail of violence. I’ve only changed in the last year.
“I stopped because I saw a church that could help me. The gang members that I’m dealing with are the most dangerous people in the community.
“My church wants to give gang members everything that the government can’t – a way out.”
Shockingly, 27 people, many of them teenagers, have already been murdered on London’s streets this year, and in 2018 there were 132 murders.
A new three-part BBC Three documentary Escaping Gangs: Death, Jail or Redemption, which starts on BBC Three this Sunday - March 24, takes a look at the church’s work and the young men and women that it aims to help.
'Other knife crime organisations are jokers'
Run by Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, the bling-wearing cousin of Star Wars actor John Boyega, the church attracts young people from across the capital, many who have been involved in crime.
Tobi says: “There are organisations out there dealing with knife crime and gun crime but they are a bunch of jokers. What they are doing isn’t working.
“The community is made of the good, the bad and the ugly, and that’s what the church should be like.”
Tobi made millions consulting on property deals, and firmly believes that getting youngsters into entrepreneurship is the way to stop them going into a life of violent crime.
Security on hand to stop rival gang fights
The church, which has branches in crime-ridden areas such as Deptford, Peckham and Hackney, recruits heavily through social media.
It has such a pull to the young that some of the most dangerous criminals in the capital are members of it.
A type of drill music called gospel drill is often performed during its services, with rappers wearing balaclavas over their faces whilst they perform – though their lyrics are non-violent.
When it meets, security is often on hand to make sure that rival gang members don’t have violent clashes.
A pastor called Daniel who is head of security at the church says: “One of the people at the church today has beef with someone else at the church. It’s a delicate situation and we have our eyes on it.”
Pastor Kevin is friends with the men from his days of violent crime and manages to diffuse the argument, before the men are sat far apart from each other.
Gang members are encouraged to come forward during the ceremony and leave any weapons or drugs on the altar.
The church that gave a criminal £30,000
Pastor Kevin knows first-hand about the generosity of the church after it gave him £30,000 to start his own chauffeur business.
While the church doesn’t own his business, he is encouraged to invest back into church-affiliated businesses when he can.
As a result, he’s trying to recruit his former gang members to the church.
“I’ve had enough of black boys being spoken about a certain way,” he says. “Nobody is going to start selling drugs because they want a pair of shoes. It’s about a way out.”
Drill rapper Young Dizz lives in Newham and has been arrested twice in the past for attempted murder.
He admits that he is called “the devil” by people in the community and says that he has been shot and stabbed “ten or 11 times” in the past.
The church is promising to invest in a music business with him to take his rap career to the next level – but in turn, he needs to stop rapping the violent lyrics that he is well known for.
In his lyrics he speaks about stabbing and shooting people.
“I’m perceived as a violent person on these streets in East London,” he says. “All the people that I grew up with and looked up to are gang members. My uncles are in gangs. When I grew up, all I knew was gangs.”
Young Dizz admits that he is seen as a gang leader by others and that he is seen to “run” the area of Beckton.
But he is looking to change this perception of himself, adding: “That’s how the police see me, but I’m not that person.”
Five friends murdered in six months
Jahiem from Brixton also reveals that he has been dangerously close to getting sucked into the gang lifestyle in the past.
He has been dealing drugs but is now trying to escape this with the help of the church.
Standing in a graveyard in Thornton Heath, he reveals that he knows five people who have been murdered in six months, pointing out their gravestones.
“It’s way too much,” he says. “A lot of these people were between 16 and 18 years old. The main way is getting stabbed. Or people will pay to have someone shot.”
Jahiem explains that drug dealing is at the heart of the knife crime epidemic.
“People sell drugs, and because they sell drugs they carry knives because they don’t want people to take their drugs off them,” he says. “More help is needed, because people are ending up in jail or dead.”
'Gang life brings money'
Young Dizz reveals that he is still considering the church’s offer to invest money in his music career – as he doesn’t want to give up rapping his violent lyrics.
“I’m not going to turn on the radio and listen to Adele,” he says. “I want that violent s**t 24/7.”
Dizz reveals that it is going to be hard for him to change his ways because gang life has given him money and notoriety.
“My eyes have been opened to reality,” he says. “I wasn’t put on the earth to live the way I’m living. I need to get away from this, I want to have a family and do normal things. The way my life is set out, it’s not going to end well”.
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There’s a shock at the end of the documentary when its revealed that Young Dizz has been in big trouble with the law.
He was arrested and convicted for GBH with intent, conspiracy to kidnap, blackmail and falsely imprison, and perverting the course of justice and is now in prison.
Whilst the church is doing its very best to help young people turn their lives around, it seems there is still a lot more to be done.
Escaping Gangs: Death, Jail or Redemption is available from Sunday on BBC Three