For months, the name Ejiro circulated online as a question rather than a person. The successful fashion designer, once known for her thriving business and vibrant social life, had vanished from public view. Her family’s alarmed appeals and the viral hashtag #WhereIsEjiro? drew widespread concern and conflicting statements from a little-known spiritual ministry that insisted she was with them by choice.

Ejiro has now resurfaced with a detailed account of what she describes as a journey into manipulation, isolation and eventual deliverance. Speaking in church, she traced the beginning of her ordeal to a milestone birthday that drew attention to her growing success. Shortly afterward, she said, members of the spiritual group approached her with what they called a prophetic message: God wanted to use her to redeem her family.

Already burdened by unresolved family issues and seeking answers, she accepted their message and joined the ministry. Once inside, she said, the group demanded total surrender. She was instructed to sell everything she owned and donate the proceeds, told that God needed to strip her of all possessions before elevating her. The designer who once dressed clients in luxury pieces soon found herself in rags, with no savings, no assets and no independence.

According to her testimony, the group systematically severed her ties to loved ones. She was warned that her family and friends were obstacles to her spiritual destiny. At one point, she said, they branded her mother a witch, a claim she believed under the weight of constant spiritual pressure. Whenever doubts surfaced, she recalled, leaders would invoke the Holy Spirit to silence her questions and reassert control.

Ejiro said she was assigned a handler she thought was a close friend, only to later realize the person was reporting her every thought and plan back to the group. When public outcry over #WhereIsEjiro? intensified, the ministry briefly released her to visit home, instructing her to reassure her family that she was safe and acting of her own free will.

That visit, she said, planted the first seeds of escape. Quietly, she began seeking spiritual support elsewhere, joining an online prayer community and gradually disentangling herself from the group’s influence. She described a slow, painful process of reclaiming her mind, faith and autonomy.

Eventually, she walked away completely, starting again with nothing. She dates her new beginning to a single July day, when she resolved to rebuild her life and business from scratch. Within a year, she said, her fashion brand not only revived but flourished, generating tens of millions of naira and restoring the career she once surrendered.

Her story, once a hashtag, has become a cautionary tale about spiritual abuse, control and the thin line between faith and exploitation. Now back at her sewing machines and sketchbooks, Ejiro says she is determined never again to confuse manipulation with ministry.