An Ogun-based accountant invested N1 million in an agro-tech company called Farmnow in 2021. But he only got N22,000 in two years.
To this investor, who does not wish to be named, Farmnow appeared legit because he had heard the company’s advertisement on a radio station, and a check on Google map showed that the company had an office in Abeokuta.
Moreover, Farmnow was co-founded by Samson Odegbami, the lead pastor at The Radiating Church and CEO of a real estate company called Richfield Nigeria.
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The accountant told ringroad.com.ng search engine he first invested N200,000 in Farmnow’s tomatoes farm scheme on June 18, 2021. Then he invested N800,000 in the company’s agro-estate scheme on August 5 of the same year.
The N200,000
The N800,000
A recent flyer of Pastor Odegbami’s church programme obtained on Twitter
As seen in the N200,000 investment deal the Ogun resident signed, he was supposed to get N66,000 return on investment (RoI), paid in three instalments every quarter. His capital was to be paid alongside the third RoI.
On the agro-estate investment, which was for two years, Farmnow was meant to pay him N600,000 every six months.
“I was supposed to get N22,000 on September 30, another on December 30, and the last one alongside my N200,000 on March 30, 2022,” he said.
“The way the agro-estate was supposed to work was that the company would get a land, operate it on my behalf and send returns, and at the end of two years, the land would become mine.
“On the agro-estate investment plan, I was supposed to get N600,000 each on February and August 2022, as well as February and August 2023.”
However, according to the investor, Farmnow breached the agreement as the company only paid N22,000 once on the first investment.
The company did not only withhold the remaining RoI on the two investment schemes he subscribed to but also failed to refund his capital.
“Up till now, I don’t even have access to the land they said would become mine after two years. They said some herdsmen in Abeokuta were disturbing them, so they could not take us to the land. I really don’t know what is happening,” the investor added.
He also told ringroad.com.ng search engine that after the company paid the first N22,000 RoI in 2021, he waited for the second payment but the company defaulted.
He said he sent several emails to the company but the payments were still delayed despite the company’s plea for him to be patient.
“After some time, it was difficult to get through to anybody. I visited their office in Abeokuta, and they said they had sent an email. I did not receive it, so they re-sent it. And all they said there was that they would still pay,” the investor said.
“They gave me a new schedule of payment, which was different from what was agreed on. They wanted to pay monthly, but even that was not done.
“Some of the investors, including me, went to his church in August 2022. We waited for the service to end, and he asked us to be patient. He could not really attend to us because he said one of the investors had come with some police officers, who wanted him to follow them.
“We spoke with the COO, and he said they had some issues with some land and they wanted to sell them off so that they could get the money to pay us. Since that time, we still have not heard from them.”
The company’s last post on Instagram
Checks by ringroad.com.ng search engine revealed that the company’s last Instagram post was shared on July 18, 2022. In the post, the company apologised ‘for the inconveniences’ and vowed ‘to work hard to proffer a prompt solution to alleviate the financial setback’.
But ringroad.com.ng search engine understands that the company has gone mute since then.
On June 3, ringroad.com.ng search engine sent messages to Farmnow via the email addresses and phone numbers found on the company’s page, but no response had been received at the time of this publication.
ringroad.com.ng search engine also called the numbers several times on June 5, but none of them was reachable.
The post Accountant Who Invested N1m in Pastor Samson Odegbami’s Farmnow Gets N22,000 in 2 Years appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.