Many farmers in Nasarawa State are currently calculating their losses after being defrauded of millions of naira by fraudulent agricultural loan syndicates who claimed to be offering them credit facilities.

The scammers approach farmers with loan offers ranging from N100,000 to N20 million after purportedly setting up an office in Doma town to enhance their credibility.

The initial deposit required of farmers seeking N100,000 is N20,000; those seeking N500,000 must deposit N100,000; those seeking N1 million must deposit N200,000; and those seeking N4 million must deposit N800,000.

Many farmers hurried to apply with the hope of receiving more funding to support their wet season production after being informed that the loan would be available in less than three weeks.

Several farmers in Doma Town and the villages of Agyeshamatu, Alagye, and Alwaza were defrauded; some even sold their properties in an attempt to raise more money.

In an interview with Daily Trust, some of the victims explained how well-dressed agents, including those who wore hijabs, convinced the low-income farmers to apply for the lending facilities.

Together with another woman, Ms. Azizi Yusuf raised N100,000, which she delivered to them in the hopes of receiving N500,000, only to discover that they had been tricked, she told Daily Trust.

“What they got in my area is more than N4 million. I know people who gave up to N350,000, some N200,000, some N100,000, and some N400,000. Mine was N50,000. I joined hands with another woman to raise N100,000. We were hoping to get N500,000,” she said.

Akwaba Musa also told Daily Trust that he was approached by two individuals (a woman and a man) to apply for the loan, but he declined because he didn’t want repayment challenges.

He did, however, say that many people went so far as to borrow money from cooperatives in order to apply for hundreds of thousands of naira.

“Now, many are in a state of confusion,” he said, adding that “They don’t even know where to start from, especially regarding the money they borrowed to give to these fraudsters.”

A woman who wouldn’t want her husband to know what she got herself into looked so confused and weakened when Daily Trust asked her some questions.

“I’m finished,” she said, “I don’t want my husband to know because this will bring a lot of teething troubles between us,” she added.

Daily Trust has learnt that family members who took part without their partners’ approval are hiding the truth out of fear of what would happen if their partners found out.

“Imagine you are going to the farm to pay debts; your wife and children will not go to the farm with you again, knowing that they are working to pay debts,” Ishiaku Bamaiyi said.

Daily Trust gathered that a few days after gathering millions from the vulnerable farmers across the town and villages, fraudsters left with all their numbers now switched off.

Even the rented office is reportedly now deserted, according to sources, as the victims are reportedly sobbing all around the premises.

Farmers in rural and semi-urban areas who were largely illiterate and unable to question the scheme’s legitimacy were the focus of the fraudulent providers.

Victims told Daily Trust that the agents filled out the forms themselves and disappeared without leaving any evidence when they were asked if they had received any documentation proving how much they had applied.

Fraudsters target FAO

In the meantime, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has also warned the public about an increasing number of fake appointment letters distributed by scammers who pretend to be offering jobs with the organisation.

Fake employment letters for the “Administrative Assistant NO-B” post have reportedly been sent to unwary individuals posing as FAO Nigeria.

In a statement to Daily Trust, the FAO Nigeria Communications Specialist, David Tsokar, warns the public to exercise caution when interacting with individuals regarding job offers, noting that “No such position exists under the NO-B cadre within FAO Nigeria’s organisational structure.”

“Our investigations further reveal that the individuals who received these letters neither applied for the role nor participated in any recruitment process. Additionally, the fraudulent messages originate from unauthorised email addresses ending in ‘.com’—a clear deviation from FAO’s official domain, which ends in ‘.org,’” the statement reads in part. (Daily Trust)