Uyi Osayimwense and Osayi Osazuwa, founders of the agribusiness platform Agropartnership, were last seen in public on February 16, 2022, when Osayimwense apologised publicly to their numerous investors in a social media video.

Prior to this, the duo defaulted on scheduled payout plans to their investors, and as a result, received a lot of backlash and scrutiny.

To add to investors’ concerns, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shut down the agribusiness company and all of its accounts in March, alleging that it was not legally registered to manage funds, and that it offered high interest rates to entice investors.

SEC Seals Oxford International Group, Farmforte Agro Allied Solutions Limited/Agro partnerships and Vektr Capital Investment for unlicensed and alleged illegal Investment Activities pic.twitter.com/yZ8xLZeTbo

— SEC Nigeria (@SECNigeria) March 14, 2022

READ ALSO: ‘I Lost N300,000’ — Another Victim of Agropartnerships Investment Company Comes Out

Olawale Fabiyi, a Nigerian lecturer, was one of the many investors affected. In December 2021, Fabiyi invested N2,250,000 naira in Agropartnership’s Cashew Value Chain Project, an investment plan on the agribusiness platform for which he was supposed to earn interest payouts twice and a final payout, including interest and his N2.25 million principal, at the maturity of the investment.

The investment was to reach maturity on December 21, 2022.

Fabiyi asked for his first payout in March 2022. However, instead of receiving funds, he received a payment rescheduling plan. Agropartnership had sent an email saying they had identified risks in their existing payout structure, and as a result, payment was being halted for five months beginning in February.

The new payout schedule was to be in June and October 2022, with the last batch in February 2023.

READ ALSO: Doctor Who Invested N800,000 No Longer Hears From Farmforte’s Agropartnerships

The June scheduled time for the first payout came and passed, and there was no payment.

In July, the company wrote to Fabiyi to apologise for the delayed payments and promised to work towards offsetting owed payments.

After waiting with no end in sight, Fabiyi sent an inquiry to the agribusiness platform in August. Agropartnership’s excuse was that their accounts were still frozen and, as a result, inoperative. They said a new payment plan was being put in place to ensure that all investors were paid.

It has been a month since Fabiyi’s final payout date and eight months since the first payout was rescheduled, and he has not received any payment or further correspondence from Agropartnership on his investment.

Founders Osayimwense and Osazuwa have been radio silent since the February video broadcast and all of their social media platforms have been inactive too.

FIJ attempted to contact the company, but all eight phone numbers were either switched off or unavailable. Mails sent to the company’s email address returned delivery error messages.