A disturbing trend has emerged on social media around Abba’s Heart Ministries, a prayer group on Instagram known as Nebaoith, suspected to be luring people into a cult and disassociating them from their families.
This group is said to have been founded by Joy Irokwe or Joy Solomon, who has since deactivated her social media accounts and gone offline.
On Monday, Nkechi Harry-Ngonadi, the founder of Nhn_Couture, a fashion business, raised the alarm about Abba’s Heart, stating that it caused the disappearance of Ejiro, the chief executive officer of stylebyejiro, an Instagram page that has since been deactivated.
Harry-Ngonadi shared that Ejiro had a normal life until she joined Abba’s Heart Ministries and closed down her business before cutting communication with everyone.
“Few weeks ago, my heart was troubled about two amazing ladies who were close to me and suddenly disappeared, and one of them is Ejiro.
I have been praying intensely for both ladies, and my heart wasn’t at rest concerning Ejiro, especially,” Harry-Ngonadi wrote.
“I tried calling and sending messages but to no avail. I reached out to her family, and what I heard was troubling, but I decided to carry out my personal investigations.
“I was told she joined a prayer group here on social media, and ever since she joined them, Ejiro’s life and business went downhill until she closed up completely, sold everything she owned and disappeared in thin air.”
Harry-Ngonadi further said that the same group encouraged Ejiro to hand over everything she owned as a seed to Solomon, while also asking her to isolate herself from her family.
“Ejiro joined a prayer group here on IG and was brainwashed to close down her business and sell off everything she owned, and hand the money over to the convener of the group as a seed,” Harry-Ngonadi continued.
“Next thing was to isolate her by telling her that her mum is a witch [who] wants to kill her. Ejiro disappeared suddenly, and nobody knows where she is to date.”
Harry-Ngonadi’s posts stirred a lot of reactions and prompted many social media users to share their experiences of family members disassociating from them after joining the Nebaoith Prayer Group.
WHO IS EJIRO?
Before her disappearance after joining the Nebaoith group, Ejiro ran a fashion business in Abuja which made outfits for many prominent people.
She ran this fashion business until she started to come across several prophecies shared by Irokwe, which carried her name. She became enthralled by them and decided to attend their Bible Study academy, paying over $300 for it.
On Tuesday, Ovie Daniels, Ejiro’s brother, stated that she had not only abandoned her church, but she sold her business and moved out of her apartment.
These, she claimed, were the ministry’s instructions, which encouraged isolation from family and friends. Daniels also pointed out that most of his sister’s activities with the ministry were shrouded in secrecy, leaving them no clues to pursue.
“There was this Nebaith Academy where you pay some dollars, $360 or thereabout, for six weeks or thereabout, and she started it. I remember I was even in her house at the time,” Daniels said.
“I noticed there was this secrecy about them. Ejiro could be in a Zoom meeting with Joy Solomon and the rest, and if you passed by, she would cover her system and phone.
“I remember asking her why it was so secretive, and I was also asking who this Joy Solomon was and the rest. She would say things like she’s a prophetess in the Bible. They were also living in isolation.
“She even tried to lure my wife and me. We joined, but I just felt there was something wrong with these people and the rest with all their tattoos and piercings everywhere. But she continued. She joined genuinely because she wanted to know God, but I began to feel that something was off.
“She was dedicated to the group. Later, she said she was closing her business. She was making clothes and making good money from making them for a lot of prominent people. I tried to discourage her, but she sold her business and closed it down, doing nothing for about six months.
“After a while, she stopped attending Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA). She said the people told her to do so. Then they asked her to start attending Apostle Joshua Selman’s meetings, but after a while, she wasn’t going anywhere else.”
Daniels said that Ejiro moved out of her house and had Taiye Adekanmi, a serving member of the ministry, move in with his own family.
“We were worried that something was up, and then she said she couldn’t renew the rent when it was due. We offered to pay the rent for her, but she was just shutting us out. She didn’t tell us when she moved out and said she was staying with a friend, trying to sort things out with God, and that God would tell her what to do next,” Daniels narrated.
“She wasn’t listening because those people were speaking to her. She wouldn’t pick up calls or show up for family gatherings. One day, we went to her house in Abuja, where she was staying, and we found someone else living in the house, Taiye Adekanmi.
“We met his wife and family. Ejiro’s things were still intact. Her TV and furniture were there. He said they were friends and members of the ministry. He said he came to Abuja to do something, and Ejiro told him he could stay there.”
Fast forward to early 2025, Daniels got a phone call from Ejiro, who showed up at his office with two women identified as Funmi Obembe and Seyi.
“When she arrived, she was angry and demanded why we were looking for her and spoiling her name. We tried to assuage her, but it was futile. She claimed we had not been part of her life, and that we should leave her,” Daniels said.
He said they eventually invited policemen from Maitama, but things went so strangely that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was hostile towards them.
Daniels said the DPO stated that Ejiro didn’t look like someone who was taken, so he dismissed the case. He said they later found that Ejiro left for Lagos the same night and ended up in Ikorodu.
Since that encounter, nothing has been heard from Ejiro.
WHAT IS ABBA’S HEART MINISTRY AND HOW DO THEY OPERATE?
Even though Abba’s Heart Ministry has deleted all its social media accounts, FIJ gathered that the group started operating in 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They would often invite new members to their meetings through their weekly prayer meeting held at 9 pm on Wednesdays.
When a member showed consistency, they then introduced them to the workforce. While all of this was ongoing, members were implored to leave their regular jobs or businesses, sowing them as seeds into the ministry.
They were also encouraged to destroy their old SIM cards and get new numbers that their family members couldn’t reach.
Also, they were told not to allow visits from their relatives as it could pollute them. However, when members began to ask questions and leave, they were excommunicated and completely cut off.
Members were often encouraged to change their names and looks by getting piercings, tattoos and dyeing their hair.
MORE MISSING RELATIVES
FIJ found more comments from social media users about the ministry influencing their relatives in the most negative way.
“Bishop Taye, you and your Abba’s Heart Children Ministry have possessed all my kids. You, Alexis Desiree, Funmi Obembe, Naomi Solomon and others,” Truthbetold30 wrote on Instagram in response to a comment from Adekanmi.
“The last Zoom meeting they attended was in October. For months after that, the only thing my sons talked about was dressing like you with heavy dreadlocks, nose and ear piercings and the rest.
“Funmi Obembe told my nieces, who are under 15, to tell their mother that they are prophetic shamachs and should look like her with tinted hair and nose piercings. That [it] is their prophetic identity.
“We battled day and night for months because of their strange behaviours. Even Elizabeth Owens, the so-called prophetic voice, is a demonic dibia. These women have destroyed so many lives and families.”
Another affected individual, themancalledlee, said that he once joined the group’s prayer session on Telegram after being invited by their brother, who has since gone missing, too.
“Good afternoon, Bishop Taiwo. I once joined your prayers on Telegram after being invited by my brother, who is now nowhere to be found. That day, you said you had a prophecy for me, which we discussed in the DM, but I think the messages have been cleared. I would like to have a personal conversation with you. Please add me or send me a DM, as I no longer have your handle,” themancalledlee wrote.
