Pastor Jerry Eze’s church refunds woman’s N1.64m mistaken transfer

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A single mother of two, Sandra Okpara, has recovered N1,640,200 she mistakenly transferred into an account linked to Pastor Jerry Eze’s Streams of Joy International, a day after a video appeal she posted online went viral.

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Okpara had said in the video, shared on social media on Friday, that the funds did not belong to her but to people she was expected to pay, and appealed to anyone connected to the church to help trace the money.

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She said, “This money is not my money. I cannot do offering of 1,640,200. Please help me trace the accounts.”

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Okpara told PUNCH Online on Saturday that she had made a N1,000 transfer earlier on Friday as an offering before intending to send another N1.6m-plus payment to a Zenith Bank account.

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“My hand just clicked that one. Before God and man, it was erroneous,” she said.

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She said she first went to Zenith Bank after discovering the error but was unable to recover the money there.

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“I went to Moniepoint; they lodged the complaint, but they were asking for a court order.

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“I don’t know how to contact them. I went to Pastor Jerry’s online prayer platform,” she said.

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Okpara said she only realised the mistake after opening the transfer receipt.

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“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 said.

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She eventually made a public appeal, which she said was intended to get people to share the video and help trace the money.

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The development caught the attention of Streams of Joy International, which said it contacted Okpara after becoming aware of the video.

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In a post on X on Saturday, the church said it had refunded the money after investigating and confirming the transaction.

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“We have transferred her money back to her,” Streams of Joy International said.

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The church added that its direct-message channels and official contact lines remained open for reports of erroneous transactions.

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It said it had not received any call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara before her video was published.

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“Upon becoming aware of the video, we immediately attempted to contact her through the phone number provided and via direct message,” the church said.

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According to the church, Okpara subsequently responded, and the transaction was reversed after the necessary investigation and confirmation.

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Speaking to PUNCH Online after the refund, Okpara confirmed that she had received the money.

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“100 per cent,” she said when asked if she had been refunded.

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She said the refund came at about 6:22 am on Saturday after a member of the church’s staff contacted her.

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“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.

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Okpara said her intention was not to damage the reputation of the church or its founder.

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“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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