NCC Confiscates N3m Pirated Bibles, Dictionaries in Calabar

Pirated Bibles and dictionaries worth N3m were on Friday confiscated by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.

The confiscation, which caused pandemonium at the popular Watt Market and environs in the Calabar metropolis, saw bookshop owners abandoning their business outfits for fear of being arrested by a team of policemen that were co-opted by the NCC officials.

No fewer than seven bookshop owners were arrested alongside the seized materials, but some of them insisted that they bought the alleged pirated copies from known publishers.

However, NCC, Mr. Augustine Amodu, director of Enforcement, said bookshop owners had mastered the act of mixing genuine copies of the seized products with pirated ones.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that dubious persons were reaping from the original concept of some others, adding that the commission has zero tolerance for pirated materials.

Amodu, nevertheless, gave respite to some bookshop owners that the commission would scrutinize all the seized materials and sort out the fake from the genuine after which those found culpable would be prosecuted.

The NCC enforcement director said the raid on bookshops in Calabar was at the instance of the Bible Society of Nigeria.

He said, “The commission is bent on sustaining its zero tolerance on piracy. It is unfortunate to note that the Nigerian society do not understand what piracy is all about. Other people are reaping from where they did not sow and we are bent on fighting piracy to a halt.

“We have seized Bibles, dictionaries and other books worth N3m in Calabar and this will be a continuous process. We do not just accept receipts of materials allegedly got from genuine publishers. If their goods are genuine, we will release them. These traders mix genuine and fake materials. We cannot stand in the market and determine real and fake. The traders are smart these days.”

Amodu said under section 38 of the Copyright Act, the commission has the power to prosecute culprits, adding that necessary steps would be taken to bring those found wanting to book.