A single mother of two, Sandra Okpara, has recovered the N1,640,200 she mistakenly transferred into an account linked to Pastor Jerry Eze’s Streams of Joy International.
The refund came barely a day after Okpara’s emotional social media appeal went viral, eliciting attention to her desperate attempt to recover the money she said belonged to people she was expected to pay.
In a video shared online on Friday, Okpara appealed to anyone connected to the church to help trace the funds.
She said, “This money is not my money. I cannot do offering of 1,640,200. Please help me trace the accounts.”
Okpara later explained that she had earlier transferred N1,000 as an offering before intending to send another N1.6m-plus payment to a Zenith Bank account.
But, according to her, she mistakenly clicked the wrong account and only discovered the error after checking the transfer receipt.
“My hand just clicked that one. Before God and man, it was erroneous,” she said.
She said she initially approached Zenith Bank after realising what had happened, but the money could not be recovered there. She subsequently went to Moniepoint, where she said a complaint was lodged, but she was told 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.
Describing the moment she discovered the mistake, Okpara said she was devastated after opening the transfer 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 said.
With conventional efforts failing, Okpara took her plea to social media, hoping the video would be widely shared and eventually reach people who could help trace the funds.
Her appeal soon caught the attention of Streams of Joy International.
In a post on X on Saturday, the church said it investigated the matter and refunded the money to Okpara.
“We have transferred her money back to her,” Streams of Joy International said.
The church also said its direct-message channels and official contact lines remained open to people reporting erroneous transactions.
It added that it had not received any call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara before her video was published.
“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 the church, Okpara subsequently responded, after which the transaction was reversed following the necessary investigation and confirmation.
Speaking to PUNCH Online after the refund, Okpara confirmed that the money had been returned to her.
Asked if she had been fully refunded, she replied, “100 per cent.”
She disclosed that the refund landed at about 6:22 am on Saturday after a member of the church’s staff 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 stressed that her social media appeal was not intended to attack Pastor Jerry Eze or damage the reputation of 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.
The development ultimately ended with the N1.64m returned to its rightful owner after her viral appeal brought the matter to the church’s attention.
