At least 4, 500 people have been defrauded of the sum of N819 million in Kano under a fake federal government’s poultry empowerment scheme by the National Agricultural Mechanization Cooperative Society of Nigeria (NAMCON).
The group of farmers logged the complaint during a one-day town hall meeting on Systematic and Proactive Investigation into activities of unregistered cooperative societies in the North-West region, organized by the Public Complaints Commission in Kano State.
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Speaking on behalf of the 4,500 complainants, Alhaji Nafi’u Isyaku Danbatta, a farmer, accused NAMCON of injustice and cheating, which put many of their members in a dangerous situation.
He said the cooperative promised to provide facilities of 1000 day-old chicks to each of them, including the feed and other related equipment needed to have a full 50 by 50 sized farm, and that they will be trained for four days.
“In 2021/2022, the cooperative introduced us to a well-designed poultry farm empowerment program and requested us to pay the sum of N182,000 each for registration. The total amount they collected is N819 million and in the end, they refused to fulfill their promise,” he said.
Reacting to some of the complaints, the Federal Commissioner of the PCC in Kano, Ahmed Ado Dadinkowa, said they will investigate the matter and other complaints and ensure that the offenders are traced and prosecuted.
On his part, the Director of Public Sector Investigation of the PCC, Barr. Ewa Udu, urged the cooperative regulatory body to be proactive to stop the scam.
