NCC confiscates N3m pirated Bibles, dictionaries

The NCC men during the raid.

Pirated Bibles and dictionaries worth N3m have been confiscated by the Nigerian Copyright Commission in Calabar, Cross River State.

The seizure, which caused confusion at the popular Watt Market and environs in the Calabar metropolis, saw bookshop owners abandoning their shops 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 along with the seized materials, and some of them insisted that they bought the alleged pirated copies from known publishers.

But the Director of Enforcement, NCC, Mr. Augustine Amodu, 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 others, adding that the commission had zero tolerance for piracy.

Amodu gave respite to some bookshop owners, saying the commission would scrutinise 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 for piracy. It is unfortunate to note that the Nigerian society did not understand what piracy is all about. Other people are reaping from where they did not sow, but 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 good 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 had the power to prosecute culprits, adding that necessary steps would be taken to bring those found wanting to book.

One of the arrested bookshop owners, Mr. Chimeze Mmo, insisted that the materials seized ─ the Bibles and other books ─ were genuine.

He said, “All the books they took from my shop are genuine. I bought them from known publishers and I have the receipts. I do not deal in fake products.”

But the Publishing Manager of the Bible Society of Nigeria, Mr. Ayo Durodola, said the raid was informed by the discovery that copies of the organization's products were pirated and sold in markets by dubious publishers.

“We discovered that some of our products are pirated and sold in bookshops. We got to some shops and discovered that there were pirated copies and that was how we got the NCC involved,” he said.

PUNCH