No fewer than 74 smallholder dairy farmers in Plateau State have accused Integrated Dairies Limited (IDL), producers of Farm Fresh products, of diverting N441.8 million meant for a Federal Government dairy intervention project, a situation they said has left them in “total economic disarray.”
The farmers, under the Wunato Dairy Farmers and Multipurpose Cooperative Society, made the allegations during a press conference held at Vwang Town Hall, Jos South Local Government Area.
Spokesperson of the cooperative, Mr. Bulus Davou, accused IDL of deceiving the farmers and mismanaging funds from the Agric-Business, Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan.
“In April 2021, Integrated Dairies Limited convened a stakeholders’ meeting in Vwang where it announced a smallholder dairy development project in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria. We were told that IDL and the Federal Government would build pens, provide financial support, supply cows, and serve as off-takers for our milk. It was presented as a corporate social responsibility, but later discovered to be a refundable Federal Government intervention,” Davou said.
He explained that more than 500 persons applied for the project, but only 74 farmers were selected for the pilot phase. According to him, accounts were fraudulently cloned in their names with NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, with each credited with N5.97 million, before the bulk of the money was transferred to IDL’s account without their consent.
“On August 17, 2022, N5.58 million was moved from each farmer’s cloned account into IDL’s account, amounting to N413.2 million. We were left with just N16,000 each, while IDL assumed control of the funds and project management,” Davou alleged.
The farmers further claimed that IDL inserted one of its staff as a signatory to their cooperative account, compelled them to sign documents without legal guidance, and later facilitated unauthorized withdrawals from their personal bank accounts under the guise of loan servicing.
“This has thrown us into trauma and indebtedness. The cows were only delivered to us in February 2024, two years after the funds were released. Because of this delay, milk production was stalled, yet deductions were made from our accounts,” Davou added.
He noted that since the project began in 2021, about “70 to 80 per cent of activities” had been spent managing crises, including shortage of feed, poor construction, and what the farmers described as “fraudulent financial practices.”
“All these have made us see the entire project as a scam,” he said.
Efforts to get a response from Integrated Dairies Limited were unsuccessful, as the management declined to speak on record or allow photographs of its staff while responding to the allegations.
