Dozens of Kano residents, mostly women, were left devastated on Friday after falling victim to a suspected scam run by a fake food charity, Food Access, which promised discounted food items in exchange for upfront payments.
The organisation, which began operations less than two weeks ago, claimed it would deliver foodstuffs at reduced prices to customers within five days of payment. Customers were directed to deposit money into specified bank accounts, with price listings far below market rates. Some of the offers included:
Arome 3L red oil – N5,000
Dangote salt 20kg – N4,000
50kg Dangote sugar – N45,000
IRS flour 50kg – N30,000
50kg Optimum/Gerewa rice – N47,000
10kg semovita – N7,000
Carton of 120g noodles – N7,000
Star Maggi – N14,000
Golden Penny spaghetti – N10,000
Knorr Chicken Maggi – N12,000
One of the victims, Mrs. Victoria Opkanachi from Jaba, revealed she and her friends invested a total of N3.6 million, expecting to collect their goods on Friday or Saturday. She initially contributed a small amount but was later convinced to invest more based on reassurances from the scheme’s promoters.
Similarly, Mallam Sani Abdul, a provision store owner in Kwakwachi, said he invested N1.5 million, anticipating delivery this weekend—only to be met with disappointment on Friday.
Other affected individuals include Mama Aisha, who put in N500,000, and several others who paid between N270,000 and N2.5 million. Some traders from the popular Singer Market reportedly invested between N10 million and N30 million.
One of the more recent investors, who paid N270,000 on Thursday, admitted he suspected the scheme might be fraudulent but didn’t expect it to collapse so soon. “They collected a huge amount of money yesterday. People were still trooping in as late as 9pm, even though they usually closed by 5:30pm. I saw someone drop N2.5 million in cash right before my eyes,” he said.
When NEWS BULLETIN visited the Food Access office in Jaba, scores of anxious and frustrated customers were seen pacing in front of the locked premises.
To add to the confusion, victims received a bizarre text message from the scammers, stating:
“Dear valued customer, we wish to inform you that our office will not open today (04/04/2025) because of the compulsory break that takes two weeks. We will reopen on 18 April 2025 to start from where we stopped. Our lines will be off in the meantime to avoid pressure. We are sorry for the inconvenience this could cause you.”
Authorities are yet to respond to the situation, even as calls for investigation grow louder.
