By Musa Isa Ahmed
About 300 Members of Alheri Farmers Association in Adamawa dragged the state chapter of National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) Clustering Farming Model 2020 Wet Season to Upper Area court II for allegedly defrauding them.
The affected farmers are demanding the whooping of 46.650milion as compensation over alleged loss they incurred as a result of NACOTAN’s refusal to give them inputs as agreed for wet season farming activities in the year 2020.
The association in a criminal summons issued against the leadership of NACOTAN said that the complainants applied for Agric loan sometimes in the year 2020 from the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrower Loan Scheme through NACOTAN but the inputs released to them through NACOTAN for onward distribution to the farmers were diverted, causing loss of not less than #150,000 by each farmer.
The leadership of the association alleged that the government had released 12 items to Alhaji Usman Abubakar led NACOTAN to be distributed to all the farmers, but the union ended up giving them 4 items including Undelinted Planting Seeds, Fungicides-Mancozeb Carbandazin, Glyphosate and Pendelin and kept 8 items including fertilizer, cotton made harvest bags among others.
According to them, the union had collected particulars of their members which include names, phone numbers and Bank Verification Number (BVN) for the purpose of accessing the loan on their behalf for the purpose of wet season farming cotton, and that after collecting the inputs, the defendants refused to give them but misappropriated same.
The complainants added that the defendants have kept on intimidating them that they must pay for all the items including what they did not collect, explaining that the conduct of the defendants amounts to offences of criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, defamation of character, and intimidation contrary to sections 299, 302, 312, 377 and 382 of the penal code law of Adamawa.
Alhaji Sale Shuaibu Zariya led association further disclosed that the defendants planted the seeds given to them, and that the defendants refused to give them the remaining inputs which led to the destruction of what they earlier planted causing a lot of hardship and huge loss.
According to them, the defendants also collected the sum of #5,500 from every farmer for the purpose of opening account and deposit, but that refused to deposit even a dime into their accounts, pointing out that the defendants further collected particulars of thousand of farmers including theirs, and that they were afraid that the particulars may be used in accessing loan for dry season farming.
The association has also sought for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from collecting loan from any financial institution on behalf of any person pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
When the matter came up for mention on Friday, counsel to the defendants, Barrister N. I. El-Yakub, urged the court to give him short date to file further better affidavit in respect of notice of preliminary objection.
The court presided over by Honourable Dan John adjourned the matter to 8,the February, 2021 so as to enable the defendants’ counsel to file an affidavit.
