Farm sues Unity Bank over agric loan

FOR acting in an alleged manner that denied it from assessing a N500 million loan under the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN) Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), Jigna Farms has dragged Unity Bank to the Federal High Court Bwari, Abuja for adjudication.A statement by the Farm in Abuja on Monday blamed Unity Bank for not acting in a professional manner that frustrated it from obtaining the said loan for its expansion programme.The Farm explained that the loan was released to Unity Bank by the CBN for onward disbursement but that the bank returned the facility to the apex bank without disbursement due to its negligence.In a case before Federal High Court in Bwari, 4 October, Jigna Farms, one of Nigeria's largest fish farms, is claiming N1.8 billion in damages caused by Unity Bank's failure to disburse N500 million from CBN.Jigna Farms Manager, Nelson Owoicho, allegedly said: 'We are still recovering from the shock.JignaFarms applied for the facility way back in February 2010. Unity Bank took ten months to assess the merits of the application in a process that culminated in approval by the Board of Directors. After an offer that was duly accepted, Unity Bank submitted Jigna's application to CBN from where the fund was released to Unity Bank in March 2011.'The statement further alleged that when pressed to release the funds, Unity Bank told Jigna that their collateral for the loan was 'unacceptable'.Owoicho explained: 'Initially we thought this must be a some kind of bad joke since 'acceptability' of collateral is basic to due diligence on loan applications.'The bad joke turned into a nightmare when Unity Bank's demand for 'acceptable' collateral dragged on until CBN's deadline for disbursal was exceeded and the money had to be returned.'Subsequently, however, according to reliable sources inside Unity Bank, the matter became the subject of an internal investigation after CBN queried the bank's handling of this facility. CBN has been consistently publicising its efforts to contribute to agriculture and food production in Nigeria.'While expressing displeasure over the mater, Owoicho alleged that the denial has set the farm back in its determination to increase its fish production.'We were devastated. The only plausible excuse is impunity. Typically, Unity Bank has become used to getting away with maltreating customers. We want our action to send out a clear message that only banks who respect customers' interests deserve to be in banking business,' the farm stressed.The farm was designed to exploit the eco-system of River Jigna in Dutse, Bwari Area Council of theFCT with millions of kilo-litres of water held and managed.It also has reservoirs plus four mega earthen ponds, 44 concrete ponds, 30-tank hatchery and infrastructure value of about N1.5 billion.It has the capacity to produce one million tonnes of table-size of fish yearly.The farm has also been showcased in television documentary by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and by the CBN to participants at an international agricultural conference in Abuja.
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