Police in Nigeria have arrested a pastor for refusing to return N900,000 (about Shs2.4 million) that was mistakenly deposited into his account by a church member.
A video has gone viral on Twitter showing a Nigerian pastor insisting on keeping nearly N900,000 that was accidentally sent to his account by a church member. The clip, shared by @DamiAdenuga, shows the pastor admitting he received N1 million instead of the intended N100,000, but claims the excess money now “belongs to God.”
Local reports indicate that the church member intended to transfer N100,000 (about Shs260k) as part of his pledge but accidentally sent N1,000,000 (about Shs2.6 million) instead.Realizing the error immediately, the member contacted the pastor, expecting the excess amount to be promptly returned.
However, the pastor’s response did not please the church member.In the video, the visibly frustrated church member can be heard saying he immediately notified the pastor about the million naira mistake, but the pastor refused to refund the N900,000 overpayment.
The pastor maintains an air of confidence, stating “The online people have asked me to make it legal.” It is reported that the pastor insisted that the N900,000 excess was a divine provision and should be considered as belonging to God.
The video has sparked outrage among many Nigerians on Twitter, who condemned the pastor’s stance as outright fraudulent behavior cloaked in religious rhetoric. Comments ranged from calling him a “fraudster” to criticizing pastors who flaunt wealthy lifestyles funded by their congregations.
However, some users appeared to take the pastor’s side, with one commenter @BREAKOUTgOD stating: “The money now belongs to God…pastor doesn’t have access to it…end of discussion.”