diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 772ce3210..6a9bfde8e 100755
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 	<artifactId>opensrp-server-core</artifactId>
 	<packaging>jar</packaging>
-	<version>2.14.3-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>2.14.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<name>opensrp-server-core</name>
 	<description>OpenSRP Server Core module</description>
 	<url>https://github.com/OpenSRP/opensrp-server-core</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/opensrp/repository/postgres/EventsRepositoryImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/opensrp/repository/postgres/EventsRepositoryImpl.java
index 44bd2c2b6..748f438ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/opensrp/repository/postgres/EventsRepositoryImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/opensrp/repository/postgres/EventsRepositoryImpl.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public Event get(String id) {
 	@Override
 	public void add(Event entity) {
 		if (entity == null || entity.getBaseEntityId() == null) {
-			return;
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Empty event or missing baseEntityId");
 		}
 		
 		if (retrievePrimaryKey(entity) != null) { // Event already added
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/opensrp/service/EventService.java b/src/main/java/org/opensrp/service/EventService.java
index fb04b6c7f..73063c71a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/opensrp/service/EventService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/opensrp/service/EventService.java
@@ -223,16 +223,22 @@ && getByBaseEntityAndFormSubmissionId(event.getBaseEntityId(), event.getFormSubm
 	 */
 	public synchronized Event processOutOfArea(Event event) {
 		try {
-			String identifier = StringUtils.isBlank(event.getIdentifier(Client.ZEIR_ID)) ?
-					event.getIdentifier(OPENSRP_ID) : event.getIdentifier(Client.ZEIR_ID);
+			String programClientId = event.getDetails() != null
+					? event.getDetails().getOrDefault("program_client_id", "")
+					: "";
+
+			String identifier = StringUtils.isBlank(event.getIdentifier(Client.ZEIR_ID))
+					? (StringUtils.isBlank(event.getIdentifier(OPENSRP_ID)) ? programClientId : event.getIdentifier(OPENSRP_ID))
+					: event.getIdentifier(Client.ZEIR_ID);
+
+			logger.info("Processing out of area event: baseEntityId=" + event.getBaseEntityId() + "; identifier=" + identifier);
 
 			if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(event.getBaseEntityId()) || StringUtils.isBlank(identifier)) {
 				return event;
 			}
 
-			List<org.smartregister.domain.Client> clients =
-					identifier.startsWith(CARD_ID_PREFIX) ? clientService
-							.findAllByAttribute(NFC_CARD_IDENTIFIER, identifier.substring(CARD_ID_PREFIX.length()))
+			List<org.smartregister.domain.Client> clients = identifier.startsWith(CARD_ID_PREFIX)
+							? clientService.findAllByAttribute(NFC_CARD_IDENTIFIER, identifier.substring(CARD_ID_PREFIX.length()))
 							: getClientByIdentifier(identifier);
 
 			if (clients == null || clients.isEmpty()) {
@@ -240,7 +246,6 @@ public synchronized Event processOutOfArea(Event event) {
 			}
 
 			for (org.smartregister.domain.Client client : clients) {
-
 				List<Event> existingEvents = findByBaseEntityAndType(client.getBaseEntityId(), BIRTH_REGISTRATION_EVENT);
 
 				if (existingEvents == null || existingEvents.isEmpty()) {
@@ -557,7 +562,6 @@ public List<Event> findEventsByConceptAndValue(String concept, String conceptVal
 
 	public List<Event> findByBaseEntityAndType(String baseEntityId, String eventType) {
 		return allEvents.findByBaseEntityAndType(baseEntityId, eventType);
-
 	}
 
 	private Event getUniqueEventFromEventList(List<Event> events) throws IllegalArgumentException {