For retired arbitrator, Mrs. Ntefon, it began with a simple Facebook friend request from a man named Aniebiet Antia. She had seen posts showcasing his vegetable farm and admired his passion for agriculture.
What followed was a heart-wrenching experience marked by trust, deceit, and a staggering financial loss.
“He started chatting with me, lamenting that no one was helping him,” Ntefon recalls. “I love to support people, especially those trying to do honest work.”
Moved by his pleas, she agreed to partner with Antia in cultivating cucumbers. Her first transfer to him was N2 million.
But when the time for repayment came after the harvest, there was nothing. No cucumbers. No profit, and no accountability. Instead, Antia claimed he had reinvested the money into tomato farming and asked for more funds. He assured the investor of the huge return on investment and promised to share every kobo invested, in addition to sharing the profit.
After gaining her trust, Antia sent over an elaborate list of items he claimed were needed to cultivate more than a hectare of vegetables on a farm located in the Industrial Layout of Itam, right within the capital city of Uyo.
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The list included a generator, water tanks, a pump, and various farm consumables, each item suggesting a well-planned agricultural operation. But as time passed, he never accounted for a single item.
Believing in the vision and wanting to recover her investment, she sent an additional N3 million, and later another N4 million, bringing her total financial exposure to N9 million.
Not once did he provide proof of purchase or demonstrate that any of the supplies had been used. To this day, the whereabouts of those supposed farm inputs remain a mystery.
Red Flags and a Dangerous Document
As an experienced arbitrator, Mrs. Ntofon became concerned after paying money and asked Antia to draft a formal partnership agreement. However, upon reviewing the document, she discovered clauses that could potentially trap her legally.
“I refused to sign it because the terms were one-sided and potentially damaging,” she said.
Despite her refusal to sign, Antia continued pressuring her. Eventually, he began making excuses, first blaming flooding, then climate change, and later his cousin for his inability to deliver more than a year after the retiree paid him.
At one point, he sent her a token of N500,000, promising to pay the balance soon after the next harvest. But that payment never came.
“Eventually, he told me he did not owe me anything and demanded evidence of the transactions,” she lamented. “Then he blocked me.”
GuardPost Farms Also Scammed of N5 Million
Mrs. Ntofon is not Antia’s only victim. GuardPost Farms, a subsidiary of Freedom House Limited, which supports local start-ups and small businesses, has also been defrauded by the same individual.
According to the farm’s manager, Ufford Wilson, Antia approached the company’s managing director in November 2024 to discuss a partnership for cucumber cultivation. In a recorded conversation, Anita could be heard lamenting that he has been going around seeking help, adding that all his efforts were futile because, according to him, Akwa Ibom people do not help their own.
The MD, known for backing small-scale ventures, gave him N2 million to cultivate and supply 200 bags of cucumber, with a repayment deadline of February 28, 2025.
By December, an additional N3 million was invested based on a new agreement to produce 250 bags. The profit-sharing arrangement was 60 per cent to GuardPost and 40 per cent to Antia.
During a meeting with the MD, Antia lamented how Akwa Ibom leaders and businessmen do not support people from the state.
“Thank you, Sir. I don’t see this as a partnership. I see it as a way of supporting me in order to keep me going. When you were calling me for an interview, I was challenged. I wasn’t stable enough. It is very rare in Akwa Ibom to see someone like you who can help others.
“I have reached out to a lot of people in government and said, ‘If you don’t give me money, let me tell you what I want, and they get it for me.’ But they are not interested in agriculture.
“I will not disappoint you. Cucumber is now N18,000 per bag. At the time we harvest in January, the price will be between N23,000 to N25,000 per bag, and we will make a higher profit.
“People don’t realise how profitable it is to farm, especially when you know the right time and season. There will be no problem, Sir,” Antia had said at the signing of the first contract.
However, during the cucumber planting, the Managing Director visited the farm and immediately noticed irregularities. The cultivated area was far too small to produce the agreed quantity, prompting the involvement of agricultural experts who confirmed the suspicion. A similar situation unfolded with the 6,000 stands of tomatoes Antia claimed to have cultivated at an eye-watering cost of N3 million.
Despite cultivating and selling both cucumbers and tomatoes, Antia has yet to remit any payment to GuardPost Farms. Instead, he claimed he needed to reinvest the proceeds into further cultivation in a bid to recover the losses—a justification that has raised more questions than answers.
He has employed the same tactics with many victims. As he expands the reach of his schemes, there is a growing risk that more unsuspecting individuals will fall into his trap unless decisive and lawful action is taken to stop him.
Both West Africa Weekly and GuardPost Nigeria have secured recorded conversations with Mr. Antia, his staff, and independent experts, and will release them at the appropriate time.
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Victims Stay Silent, Fraud Pattern Emerges
West Africa’s internal investigation and independent findings from GuardPost newspaper show that Antia has defrauded many individuals and small business owners in Akwa Ibom.
Some of his victims include farmers, retirees, and local investors. Many of them, however, are reluctant to speak out publicly, either out of fear, shame, or disbelief that they were deceived.
His fraudulent model often involves ambiguous contracts laced with “climate-related clauses,” giving him the cover to dodge accountability when things go wrong, without any real climatic disruptions.
Even after harvesting multiple times, Mr. Antia would habitually refuse to pay his creditors and is reportedly seeking more victims. Shockingly, sources say he has been enlisted in the Akwa Ibom State government’s empowerment scheme for small-scale businesses, an irony not lost on those he has defrauded.
A Litany of Excuses
Antia has admitted to collecting money from his victims but insists he did not defraud them, claiming they “voluntarily invested in his farm” when he was contacted.
The self-styled farmer, who said he planted 25 packs of cucumbers for GuardPost Farms—far below the 55 to 60 packs experts say would yield 200 bags at harvest—chose instead to blame climate change for the poor outcome.
This was despite failing to care for the crops properly after planting, a clear sign of deliberate negligence.
Regarding his tomato crop, Antia acknowledged they died but failed to mention that he was often absent from the farm and rarely monitored its operations.
He also omitted the fact that the farm had no manager for nearly two months after he sacked the former one for alleged theft at the onset of the contract.
In Mrs. Ntefon’s case, Antia flatly denied owing the retiree any money, despite documented evidence showing he collected a total of N9 million from her and repaid only N500,000, accompanied by a recorded promise to refund the remaining balance over time.
“I did not dupe Mr. Ibanga Isine (MD of GuardPost Farms). We went into a business that unfortunately didn’t go well due to natural factors. If I had scammed him, I would have been hiding by now. If he feels I didn’t lose anything in the business and he wants me to pay him, let him say so. God will help me, and I will pay him,” Antia said.
Speaking further, he added, “Mrs. Ntefon’s case cannot come in because we had an agreement. A natural disaster destroyed my farm in 2021/2022, and everyone in Uyo knew that the flood had damaged my farm, and the evidence is there.
“I am not owing Mrs. Ntefon anything. I lost everything in that business, and I even went into depression and had BP because of that agreement. Anybody I owe in this business, I’m paying them gradually, and I can send their names and phone numbers. If she feels I am not owing her, she should take me to court.”
Poor Farming Practices, Not Climate Change
Farmers and extension workers who visited Antia’s farm confirmed that the 5,000 cucumber stands he planted, or 25 packs as he claimed, could not produce anything close to 100 bags. However, when the Managing Director of GuardPost Farms raised concerns, Antia dismissed them, accusing him of “bringing negative energy” to the farm.
In a bizarre twist, the so-called farmer, who is rarely seen on the farm, warned the investor not to bring anyone to inspect the farm in his absence and strictly forbade taking any photos or videos of it.
He claimed that a former aide to Governor Udom Emmanuel had once done so and used the images to extort money from the government. Local farmers, however, dismissed this claim as unfounded.
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They also rejected Antia’s excuse that climate change was responsible for his poor harvest. “There’s been no unusual weather this season,” said a Uyo-based cucumber farmer who pleaded not to be named for safety reasons. “We’ve had steady rain and sunshine—perfect weather for farming.”
A tomato grower in the city also added, “When farms fail, it’s usually due to poor planning, bad seeds, or lack of care. Climate change can be handled when the duty of care is exercised.”
The real issue, experts said, was that Antia ignored standard farming practices. A recorded conversation with his farm manager revealed that fertiliser was not applied until the fourth week after transplanting—far too late. Workers also stated that Antia was rarely available at the farm and did not provide proper supervision and watering.
The farmers further questioned why Antia sold cucumbers and tomatoes yet failed to remit a single kobo to his investor. According to them, this showed he never intended to honour the terms of the contract from the beginning.
They insist that the losses were not due to climate change, but rather to poor planning, negligence, and dishonesty. “Antia simply used climate change as a convenient excuse to cover up a failed and possibly fraudulent venture,” most of them said.
Justice Delayed, But Not Denied?
Many victims of Antia’s farm fraud have chosen to stay quiet, not because they were not duped, but out of fear of being attacked by his ever-vocal fan base on Facebook, where he enjoys a large following. It is almost as if questioning him is a crime against the online farming god.
Many of his fellow farmers, who have watched his antics from the sidelines, say Antia is less of a real farmer and more of a “Facebook farmer”—quick to post glossy pictures and motivational quotes, but rarely doing the actual work.
One of them quipped that if farming awards were given for social media posturing and likes, Antia would be a grandmaster.
In reality, they claim, his farming is more political theatre than agricultural practice—a performance tailored for social media applause rather than planting, weeding, or harvesting.
But for victims like Mrs. Ntofon and GuardPost Farms, the journey to justice is far from over. Armed with detailed transaction records, voice recordings, and other hard evidence, they remain hopeful that the relevant government agencies will intervene and take decisive action.
In a determined move, GuardPost Farms has retained the services of Nwoko and Associates, a reputable law firm led by the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko (SAN), to initiate legal proceedings against Antia.
Meanwhile, Imman Mike Umoh, a nephew of Mrs. Ntofon, has vowed to pursue every legitimate avenue to ensure that Antia repays every kobo he fraudulently obtained from the retired woman. “This will not end in silence,” he said. “He must be held accountable.”
“My aunt needs the money, so she will do everything legally possible to recover it. Additionally, anyone who has been defrauded or has had any uncompleted transactions with Aniebiet should come forward so that we can pursue the case legally,” Umoh said.
A West Africa Weekly exclusive with an additional report by Adiaha Udosen.
