Streams of Joy International, founded by Pastor Jerry Eze, has refunded ₦1,640,200 to a single mother of two, Sandra Okpara, after she mistakenly transferred the money into an account linked to the church.
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The refund came barely a day after Okpara posted an emotional video on social media appealing for help to recover the money, which she said belonged to people she was expected to pay.
Okpara explained that she had earlier transferred ₦1,000 as an offering on Friday and later intended to make a separate payment of more than ₦1.6 million to a Zenith Bank account.
According to her, she mistakenly selected the church-related account used for the earlier offering and transferred the larger amount before realising the error.
“My hand just clicked that one. Before God and man, it was erroneous,” she said.
She said she did not immediately notice the mistake until she opened the transaction receipt after completing the transfer.
“I didn’t see it. I just made the transfer. After I did it, I had to open the receipt. I was screaming. I had to go to the toilet. I urinated. I came out. I looked at it that there was no hope,” she recalled.
In the video that subsequently circulated widely online, Okpara stressed that the ₦1,640,200 was not an offering and did not belong to her.
“This money is not my money. I cannot do offering of ₦1,640,200. Please help me trace the accounts,” she appealed.
Okpara said she initially approached Zenith Bank after discovering the erroneous transaction but was unable to recover the money through the bank.
She subsequently contacted Moniepoint, which she said lodged a complaint but informed her that a court order would be required as part of the recovery process.
“I went to Moniepoint; they lodged the complaint, but they were asking for a court order,” she said.
Unable to establish direct contact with the church, Okpara turned to social media in the hope that members of the public would share her appeal widely enough for it to reach Streams of Joy International.
The video eventually attracted the attention of the church, which said it immediately attempted to contact her after becoming aware of the matter.
In a statement posted on X on Saturday, Streams of Joy International confirmed that the transaction had been investigated and the full amount returned.
“We have transferred her money back to her,” the church said.
The church, however, clarified that before the viral video emerged, it had not received any call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara concerning the mistaken transfer.
“Upon becoming aware of the video, we immediately attempted to contact her through the phone number provided and via direct message,” the church said.
According to Streams of Joy International, Okpara subsequently responded and, after the transaction was investigated and confirmed, the money was reversed.
The church also said its official contact lines and direct-message channels remained available to persons seeking assistance over erroneous transactions.
Okpara later confirmed that she had received the entire ₦1,640,200.
“100 per cent,” she replied when asked whether the money had been fully refunded.
She said a member of the church’s staff contacted her early on Saturday and the refund was completed at about 6:22 a.m.
“I had to do the video to push out for people to share it, and it happened. And to the glory of God, around 6.22 this morning, one of their staff member called me, and I was refunded,” she said.
Okpara also stressed that her decision to make the matter public was solely aimed at recovering the money and was not intended to damage the reputation of Pastor Jerry Eze or the church.
“That’s the power of social media. It’s not because I want to do it to tarnish Pastor Jerry’s image,” she said.
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