Anchor Borrowers: Rice farmers union to prosecute 113 loan defaulters in Daura

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Katsina State says it would prosecute more than 113 farmers who deliberately refused to repay their loans.

Nura Baure, the RIFAN chairman in Daura Local Government Area, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Daura on Tuesday.

The chairman said the farmers failed to begin repayment in spite of the fact that their repayment period had elapsed.

Mr Baure called on the affected farmers to hasten repayment of their loans or face prosecution in a court of law, adding that the loan was not a bonanza or free gift from the Federal Government.

He warned that the association would not hesitate to institute legal action against defaulters, saying the facility was provided by the Federal Government as revolving loan hence repayment was mandatory.

He said the association had received more than 500 bags of paddy rice from farmers as Anchor Borrowers Loan scheme repayment.

He expressed delight at the rate at which many farmers were repaying their loans either in cash or in bags of paddy rice, stressing that RIFAN expected the loans to revolve for others to benefit.

Mr Baure said that during the loan disbursement, the farmers were supplied with agricultural inputs which included fertiliser, insecticides, herbicides, improved rice seedlings, sprayers and water pumping machines.

According to him, the stipulated guidelines governing eligibility, disbursement and repayment of the loan indicate that the facility must be repaid within one year, failure of which beneficiaries will be sanctioned.

NAN reports that the Katsina State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) recently secured a stable market for sesame farmers.

NAN also reports that more than 3,500 farmers in Daura Local Government Area have benefited from the anchor borrowers agricultural scheme out of the 5,000 farmers who formally registered for the scheme. (NAN)