Eloise Hawking's connection to MIB and the loophole

I recently re-watched "Lost" in its entirety for the first time since the show ended. Overall, I appreciated the show, and especially seasons 4-6, a great deal more now than I did during my initial watch. Now I also see that most questions were answered, even though some questions are still left for debate.

One question that I do wish the producers had given a more satisfactory answer to, though, is the connection between Eloise Hawking and MIB's loophole. When Locke leaves the island, he is told by Christian Shephard (i.e. MIB), to find Eloise Hawking in Los Angeles. Eloise is then later paramount in ensuring that the loophole works in that she is insisting that the coffin with Locke's body must be on board the Ajira-flight, thus providing MIB with his "vessel" for completing the loophole. These two facts made me think that perhaps Eloise somehow was cooperating with MIB, but this is never really confirmed, and since we know that MIB can not leave the island, this means that MIB must have "recruited" Eloise before she left the island. But if this is the case, how could MIB know about his loophole-plan years before it manifested? Does MIB perhaps have contact with somebody else off the island who could relay information to Eloise? Or is it perhaps possible that Eloise really had no contact with MIB, and simply insisted Locke's body had to be on the Ajira-flight in order to have a "substitue" for Christian Shephard's body which was on Oceanic 815? Or was she somehow manipulated by MIB without her knowledge through some way never seen on the show?

I really do not find a satisfactory answer to this, so I would love to hear some theories from other people here!