Pastor Jerry Eze’s Church Refunds N1.64m Mistakenly Transferred By Woman 

Sandra Okpara has recovered N1,640,200 that she mistakenly transferred to an account linked to Pastor Jerry Eze’s Streams of Joy International.

The refund came on Saturday, a day after a video appeal by Okpara went viral on social media.

LEADERSHIP reported that Okpara had appealed to members of the church and the public to help trace the money, explaining that the funds did not belong to her but were meant for payments she was expected to make.

“This money is not my money. I cannot do an offering of 1,640,200. Please help me trace the accounts,” she said in the video shared on Friday.

Okpara explained that she had earlier transferred N1,000 as an offering before intending to send another payment of more than N1.6m to a Zenith Bank account.

According to her, she mistakenly clicked on the wrong account while making the second transfer.

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

Okpara said she initially approached Zenith Bank after discovering the error but was unable to recover the money.

She subsequently went to Moniepoint, where she lodged a complaint, but was told that a court order was required.

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

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

She said she did not immediately realise that she had transferred the money to the wrong account until she opened the transaction receipt.

“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 recounted.

Okpara said she eventually resorted to social media, hoping that the video would be widely shared and reach people who could help trace the funds.

The appeal subsequently drew the attention of Streams of Joy International.

In a statement posted on social media, the church said it had not received any call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara before her video was published.

The church said it routinely handles reports of erroneous transactions through a verification process and that it immediately began investigating Okpara’s claim after becoming aware of the video.

According to the church, its team contacted Okpara through the phone number provided and via direct message.

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

It added that Okpara subsequently responded, after which the transaction was investigated and confirmed.

The church announced on X on Saturday that the money had been refunded.

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

The church also reiterated that its direct-message channels and official contact lines remained open to members of the public reporting erroneous transactions.

Confirming the refund, Okpara said she had received the full amount.

Asked if she had been refunded, she replied, “100 per cent.”

She said the money was returned at about 6:22 am on Saturday after a staff member of the church contacted her.

“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 clarified that her decision to make the matter public was not intended to damage the reputation of Pastor Jerry Eze or Streams of Joy International.

“That’s the power of social media. It’s not because I want to do it to tarnish Pastor Jerry’s image,” she said.