Real estate company PWAN Group has denied any involvement in the arrest and detention of social activist Scott Iguma, who has accused the firm of defrauding customers by failing to allocate land despite issuing receipts.
On Wednesday, a statement attributed to Mr Iguma’s legal team and shared on his Instagram account alleged that the PWAN Group facilitated his arrest and directed his detention through the office of the deputy commissioner of police at Panti, Yaba.
The post also named PWAN’s founder, Augustine Onwumere, as the person behind the reported directive.
However, the legal team did not disclose its identity.
Responding to the allegations in a statement issued on Thursday, PWAN Group said it had no authority to arrest or detain anyone and rejected all claims linking it to Mr Iguma’s legal situation.
The company said, “We wish to state unequivocally that PWAN, as a private corporate entity, neither has the authority nor has ever exercised any power to arrest or detain any individual. The suggestion that we are responsible for Mr Iguma’s current legal challenges is entirely false, malicious and deeply misleading.”
PWAN acknowledged that Iguma had made several accusations against the firm on social media, including claims that it failed to allocate land to clients.
The company said it responded through legal channels and offered opportunities for dialogue, which Iguma allegedly declined.
“Despite persistent provocations and the dissemination of falsehoods, we extended multiple invitations to Mr Iguma for peaceful dialogue, offers he publicly declined, as evident in his social media posts,” the company said.
PWAN Group also stated that social media is not the appropriate platform for resolving disputes and stressed the need for legal processes.
Commenting on Iguma’s arrest, the company said, “According to information reliably available to us, Mr Iguma is currently being held for allegedly evading lawful police invitations and for a reported altercation with law enforcement officials at Panti. These events are unrelated to PWAN and occurred independently of any involvement or directive from our organisation.”
The company added that the matter has been brought before Justice Oghazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
PWAN urged the public and media organisations to refrain from spreading unverified information and allow the legal process to take its course.
“PWAN remains committed to the rule of law and ethical business practices in Nigeria’s real estate sector,” the statement added.
Iguma has been remanded in prison by the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikoyi.
He is expected to remain in custody until Monday.
The development was confirmed by singer Okokowa Jerry, popularly known as KokoPee, who posted a video from the court premises on Instagram.
KokoPee said, “I’m here in Ikoyi. Sadly, Scott has been remanded until Monday. He has been remanded for fighting for people. You have a problem with the way he has done it? Did he kill someone? Did he commit a crime? In Lagos, I thought they said defamation is not a crime?”
