IN SHORT: There is no partnership between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria. Ignore posts claiming that the agencies are offering loans.
Several posts on Facebook claim that Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) is giving out loans.
One post reads: “FMARD: Dear Beneficiary of Federal Ministry of Agriculture & rural development kindly visit: https://afan.org.ng/ to accept your loan offer.”
The post contains a link to a website with two logos, one belonging to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and the other to FMARD. Applicants are required to input their mobile numbers for validation.
The AFAN is a non-profit organisation that represents the interests of Nigerian farmers.
The same message appeared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But is the loan offer legit? We checked.
Ignore false message
On 12 March 2024, AFAN’s national president Dr Farouk Rabi'u Mudi said the organisation had nothing to do with the circulating message.
“It has come to our notice that some individuals are sending information purported to be from Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to all our members asking them to register and apply for loan … We did not know anything about this. Our website account has been hacked. You are hereby WARNED,” he wrote on Facebook.
Salisu Mukhtar, AFAN’s assistant public relations officer, said that the organisation had no such partnership with the agriculture ministry.
Africa Check has previously exposed numerous fake Facebook pages and accounts.
Republish our content for free
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment