By Taiwo Oshunloye
Taiye Adekan, a former member of Abba’s Heart Ministry, the embattled Instagram prayer group, and the missing lady Ejiro
Taiye Adekan, a former member of Abba’s Heart Ministry, the embattled Instagram prayer group, has addressed claims of his involvement in the disappearance of Ejiro.
The issue became public knowledge after entrepreneur Nkechi Harry-Ngonadi raised the alarm about Ejiro’s disappearance after joining the “special prayer group”.
She also accused the prayer group of brainwashing Ejiro, isolating her from family and friends, and convincing her to sell her properties and hand over the proceeds to them.
Ovie Daniels, Ejiro’s brother, revealed that Adekan and his family had been living in Ejiro’s house, fueling suspicions about the cleric’s involvement in her disappearance.
In a series of videos, Adekan said he joined the ministry in 2021 after an invitation from a friend who was a co-founder.
He said he later became part of the ministry’s workforce and, within months, was asked by Joy Solomon, the group’s founder, to take over leadership.
Adekan, who identifies as a bishop, said he initially refused to take the role before eventually accepting it and was even instructed to quit his job and commit to full-time ministry.
“We went for a prayer retreat at Ife, we went to Mount Camel, and around that period, I was told that I would need to stop working and go into full-time ministry. When Joy Solomon told me, I prayed about it and I felt peace about it as well,” he said.
“I resigned from employment and focused on ministry full time, and that took effect from October 2022. Now, without a 9-5, it was pretty difficult. We had to manage family and everything, the children’s school, feeding, utilities, and all that.”
Adekan alleged that Solomon pressured him and his family to give up their belongings and vacate their home, leaving them homeless for seven months.
He said he met Ejiro through Solomon, who presented an unusual housing opportunity. According to him, Solomon claimed Ejiro was relocating abroad and wanted to “sow her property as a seed to the ministry”.
“It was in the middle of looking for a house that was when she called me and said Bishop Taiye, you might not need to look for a house. Something came into the picture, and that was how Ejiro came into the picture,” he said.
“Before now, I had not seen Ejiro physically. I did have an interaction with her sometime ago, but I did not know she was the one. She had reached out to me asking for prayers for her mum, who was supposed to go into surgery, and I prayed with her; that was all I knew.
“I did not know her personally, and I do get some of those requests from time to time, almost every day. That was my only interaction with Ejiro before this particular case, where I actually met her through Joy Solomon.
“Joy Solomon said there is one of our members in Abuja who wants to leave her house. If you would like, you can go and check it out. If you like it, you can take up occupancy of that residence and pay the rent.
“She added a sweetener to it in that ‘this person is looking to relocate out of the country, and she would not need her properties anymore’. She has decided to sow the properties as seed to the ministry, so I may not need to furnish the house I’m getting, all I need to do is pay for the rent she is not interested in paying.
“But she was interested in retaining tenancy of that house, and she would go back and tell them she wants it now.”
He said he was skeptical about the arrangement, particularly the issue of subletting, fearing complications with the actual landlord.
“All I had to do was wire the money into her account. I was skeptical about it because I did not like the issue of subletting, because I have had people where the landlord would say I do not know you, it’s the main tenants I know,” he said.
Adekan also denied any knowledge of Ejiro’s whereabouts, arguing that he and his family had left the ministry and were also victims of Solomon’s influence.
Adekan’s wife also shared her side of the story, corroborating her husband’s claims and adding disturbing details about Solomon’s demands.
She also shared receipts of rent payments made to Solomon for Ejiro’s house, countering allegations that they had taken over the property unlawfully.
“I am Taiye’s wife. The reason why we’ve not come out to speak is because my husband has been speaking with Monique (Ejiro’s sister), they were on call yesterday night,” she wrote.
“Contrary to what is circulating, we were also victims of Joy Solomon. My husband was a member of the ministry. Our saving grace was that we refused to block our family members (parents and siblings), including some other instructions that were not aligned with us, and that was why we left.
“She told us that we were disobedient to Abba’s instructions, and we have failed all the tests he’s putting us through. In 2023, she had us give out our properties, and we were living in a motel until last year.
“We had wanted to go rent our own apartment, when Joy Solomon reached out to my husband that someone wants to give her properties to the ministry cos she’s relocating. So she told my husband that we should just pay rent and move in instead of renting a new place and packing our belongings to our new space.
“The reason why people are not referring to us as missing is because we refused to isolate our family. At a point, she even told me that my dad wants to kill my husband, so I should block him and my siblings so that they won’t be able to reach us.
“She bought new SIM cards for us and registered them and told us to dispose of our old SIM cards and start using the ones she bought for us. Of course, we refused, and so did my husband… It’s time to leave these people.
“At the time of leaving, I was pregnant, and this led to my coming down with preeclampsia. My blood pressure shot up to 180/100, so we had to do an emergency CS to save my baby’s life.”