Nigerian farmers have been warned by the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) not to pay money to certain people seeking them to formalise their membership with the organisation. The National President of the association, Arch. Kabir Ibrahim, in a press statement in Abuja, condemned the action of some individuals, who he accused of circulating false information, saying such action was inimical to the progress of the Nigerian farmers, who in the last few years, were already grappling with many challenges.
He added that asking farmers to pay money for membership at these hard times, was condemnable. Ibrahim reported that the said individuals had sent a link to farmers asking them to pay money in order to revalidate their membership of the national body, noting that the falsified request did not emanate from them. The press statement partly reads; “Our attention has been drawn to a link requesting every farmer to regularise their membership of AFAN by paying N500 (Five Hundred Naira).
“We are by this [statement] discountenancing this message as false and defamatory to the AFAN leadership”. Arch. Ibrahim urged farmers across the country to ignore the messages, which “like many others, purporting to avail loans to farmers”. Commenting further on the issue, he said certain individuals who are not real farmers have been parading themselves as officials of the association, defrauding vulnerable farmers, who are looking for ways to improve their productivity.
