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Streams of Joy International, the church founded by Pastor Jerry Eze, has refunded N1.64 million mistakenly transferred into an account linked to the church.
The money, amounting to N1,640,200, was mistakenly transferred by Sandra Okpara, a single mother of two, who said the funds belonged to other people she was expected to pay.
Okpara had earlier taken to social media to appeal for help after discovering that she had transferred the money to the wrong account.
According to her account, she had initially made a N1,000 transfer as an offering before intending to transfer more than N1.6 million to a Zenith Bank account. However, she said she inadvertently selected the wrong account and only realised the mistake after checking the transfer receipt.
She subsequently approached her bank and Moniepoint in an attempt to recover the money but said she was informed that a court order was required before the funds could be retrieved.
With no immediate solution, Okpara eventually posted a video online appealing to members of the public to help trace the recipient of the money.
The appeal attracted attention on social media and eventually came to the attention of Streams of Joy International.
The church said that upon becoming aware of the video, it contacted Okpara and began the process of verifying the transaction.
In a statement posted on X, the church confirmed that the money had been returned to her after the necessary investigation.
“We have transferred her money back to her,” the church stated.
The church also said its official communication channels remained open to members of the public who may have made erroneous transfers.
It, however, clarified that it had not received any call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara before she published the video online.
According to the church, it immediately attempted to reach her after becoming aware of her appeal and subsequently reversed the transaction after confirming the circumstances surrounding the transfer.
Okpara later confirmed that she had received the full refund.
She said the money was returned at about 6:22 am on Saturday after a member of the church’s staff contacted her.
She 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.
Rather, she explained that she used social media because she needed the video to reach people who could help her trace and recover the funds.
The incident has since drawn attention to the importance of exercising caution when making electronic financial transfers, particularly when large sums of money are involved.
For Okpara, what initially appeared to be a devastating financial mistake ultimately ended with the recovery of the N1.64 million.
The prompt response by the church also brought the matter to a close after the transaction was investigated and verified.
