Three booksellers have been arrested and pirated books worth N5 million were impounded by operatives of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) during an enforcement operation at the Garki Modern Market in Abuja.
The operatives, backed by armed policemen, on December 14, 2021, stormed bookshops in the market and arrested those found to be selling suspected pirated books.
Preliminary reports show that about 907 infringing copies of religious, motivational and educational titles belonging to various publishers were among the seizures.
Those arrested were Mr Ifeanyi Udensi of Anyibest Bookshop; Mr Ugwu Henry of Tonydon Bookshop, and Mr Chinedum Udeagha of Chinedum Bookshop.
NCC’s Director of Operations, Mr Obi Ezeilo, described the operation as a major hit on book piracy in Abuja. He said the antipiracy operation followed tip-offs by right owners, intensified intelligence gathering and surveillance by the commission’s operatives.
