CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Scheme: Bayelsa Govt alerts farmers to shun middlemen, extortionists

The Bayelsa government on Sunday raised the alarm of the activities of middlemen who extort money from farmers seeking to participate on the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Scheme.

The middlemen float fictitious Cooperative Societies soliciting membership from agric loan seeking farmers for a fee.

Bayelsa Agric Development Company (BADC), has therefore advised farmers in the state to avoid the middlemen describing the act as fraudulent

 The Managing Director of the BADC, Mrs. Helen Ajuwa said in Yenagoa that the activities of the middlemen who extort money from farmers was illegal as no fee is required to access the agricultural credit.

"It has come to our knowledge that the rate at which illegal agricultural cooperatives exhort money from unsuspecting farmers in the state in the guise to help them secure loan is on the increase.

“Based on the state government's policy for giving agricultural loans, no farmer needs to pay a dime to access any federal government agric loan.

." Ajuwa said.

According to her the state recently keyed into the CBN Anchor Borrowers Scheme targeted at 2000 real fish and cassava farmers in the state during the first phase of the program in 2017.

Ajuwa urged farmers in the state to consult the office of the BADC before applying for agric loan in order not to fall prey to fraudsters that are bent on extorting from them.

She explained that all fish and cassava farmers should do to get registered is to provide a land owned by the farmer..

 According to her, the BADC would take off from that point by clearing the land, providing them with cassava stems, fertilizers, harbicides and little grant for farm management.

She emphasised that the farmers are not expected to pay money to secure the grant. 

She said this time the state government has set up better strategy to ensure that only real farmers benefit from the program as there would be different degrees of verification of intending farmers and inspection of farm lands.

Ajuwa said that the applicants have cried out over alleged cases of fraud extortion of farmers and the listing of ghost beneficiaries for the loan, a development that necessitated the advice to farmers to avoid the middlemen.

 It will be recalled that the state government is currently saddled with the  repayment of agricultural credit granted to farmers in the state by the federal government which was guaranteed by the government.