Hilary Okpala, an Edo State-based entrepreneur, has detailed how his OPay account got frozen after he received a N10 million payment from a merchant.

Okpala told FIJ that the incident happened on March 21 after the merchant transferred the sum into his account.

“After I received the N10 million payment, I immediately transferred it to some people I was indebted to,” Okpala said.

“The moment I finished making all the transfers, I was left with a N2 million balance.

“On March 21, when I tried making additional transactions from my OPay account, I suddenly realised that my account had been frozen.”

Okpala told FIJ he subsequently contacted OPay to lodge a complaint and was told that the instruction to restrict his account had come from Flutterwave.

“It was during this period that I was told that my account was frozen because Flutterwave had claimed that the N10 million payment I received from the merchant was a proceed realised from fraud,” Okpala said.

“Since then, I have not been able to have access to the N2 million balance I have in my OPay account.

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“In addition to this, I was also told by OPay that Flutterwave had listed me as beneficiary while sending its fraud report.”

Okpala said he later learnt that the accounts of the people he sent the N10 million to had also been frozen.

“I am still trying to understand why Flutterwave would choose to report my account when I did not trade with them,” Okpala said.

“The sender of the money only paid me with an OPay merchant account and there was no way I would have known I had received fraud proceeds.

“When OPay would not lift the restriction it placed on my account, I decided to surf the internet to see if I would be able to come up with helpful news.

“It was then that I came across the news that some hackers had recently stolen N2.9 billion Flutterwave’s accounts.

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“I don’t understand why they took no action when the scammers started sending stolen funds into people’s accounts.

“Despite not receiving a court order or any kind of notification, OPay suspended my account. I have given OPay all the proofs I have to clear my name, but they have refused to lift the restriction placed on my account.

“I suggested to OPay that they reach out to the sender of the money because the person is a merchant, but the bank has been silent. I am a normal business person, and I need my money back.

“My business has continued to suffer because of my inability to have access to the frozen N2 million balance.

On April 18, FIJ contacted Femi Hanson, OPay’s spokesperson, for comments on the matter and he said the issue was still being investigated.

He has, however, not issued an update on the development at press time.