NCC arrests three people and seizes N1.5 million in pirated books

Three suspected pirates were apprehended by Copyright Inspectors and Police in a raid on Suleja Market in Niger State. In addition, the team seized pirated materials from the suspects. On Friday, the Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, announced the seizure. Following a surveillance operation, the seizures were made during an anti-piracy operation at One Way Road, Suleja Market in Suleja. The value of the 250 copies of the Holy Bible and pirated textbooks seized is estimated to be N1.5 million.

According to Vincent Oyefeso, the commission’s director of public affairs, “the confiscated works included primary and secondary school texts, copies of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and various versions of the Holy Bible.” The suspects, Kelechi Ugwuiro, Romanus Ojimba, and Ebuka Chinedu, were arrested for distributing and offering for sale suspected pirated literary works, in violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Copyright Act, according to Oyefeso. Investigations are currently underway to apprehend and prosecute the main suppliers in the piracy chain.

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He expressed the agency’s commitment to carrying out its enforcement mandates, “especially now, when the book season is just around the corner.” The director urged members of the public to help the commission by providing information on suspected piracy outlets and suspicious book warehouses through any of the commission’s state offices or on the Commission’s website, www.copyright.gov.ng. “The main operational contacts for the commission are: anti-piracy hotline: 09019003200; email: info@copyright.gov.ng,” Oyefeso said.