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 her emotional video appeal went viral on social media.
Okpara posted the video on Friday, September 11, 2026, explaining that the funds did not belong to her. She said the money was meant for payments she was expected to make on behalf of others, including registrations linked to Value Circle Africa, and that those people had begun calling her for the funds.
“This money is not my money. I cannot do offering of 1,640,200. Please help me trace the accounts,” she pleaded in the widely shared clip. She stressed repeatedly that the transfer was not an offering.
According to Okpara, she had earlier sent N1,000 as an offering to the church on Friday. She then intended to transfer more than N1.6 million to a different Zenith Bank account. While making the second transaction, she said her hand “just clicked” the church-related account by mistake.
“Before God and man, it was erroneous,” she told Punch Online. She only discovered the error after opening the transfer 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.
She first approached her bank (including through Moniepoint) to reverse the transaction but was told a court order would be required. Unable to reach the church’s finance team through official channels at the time, she turned to social media, hoping the video would be shared widely enough to prompt assistance.
Streams of Joy International later confirmed it became aware of the viral appeal. In a statement posted on X on Saturday, September 12, the church said it had not received any prior call, email, direct message or formal complaint from Okpara. Upon seeing the video, staff immediately attempted to contact her using the phone number provided and via direct message.
After Okpara responded, the church investigated and confirmed the transaction before reversing it. “We have transferred her money back to her,” Streams of Joy International announced. The church also noted that its direct-message channels and official contact lines remain open for reports of erroneous transactions.
Okpara confirmed receipt of the full amount. “100 per cent,” she said when asked if she had been refunded. She stated that a staff member of the church contacted her and the money arrived around 6:22 a.m. on Saturday.
She emphasised that her public appeal was solely to recover the funds 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.
The swift resolution has been widely noted online as an example of how social media visibility can accelerate the recovery of mistaken transfers when combined with institutional responsiveness.
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