Expert tasks security agencies on combating intellectual property theft

A forensic expert, Dr. Barbara Odoh, has called on the Nigeria Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take urgent action against intellectual property theft, lamenting the lack of enforcement in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Odoh decried what she described as a disturbing rise in plagiarism and intellectual fraud, warning that weak protection for innovators poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s digital and creative economy.

Sharing her own experience, she revealed that in 2021, she developed a project called Bsafe Transact, a platform designed to enhance secure transactions across mobile and web applications.

But after sharing details of her project with a government agency in a botched partnership, the project was stolen from her. According to her, a social media influencer to her dismay, had allegedly repurposed the Bsafe Transact concept verbatim, effectively claiming it as their own.

Odoh, who vowed to reclaim her intellectual property, urged authorities to strengthen intellectual property enforcement, warning that unchecked plagiarism could stifle innovation and discourage creators from contributing to Nigeria’s digital economy.

“I want to assure you that I will not relent in this struggle. It is my deeply held belief that I must demand what is rightly mine, and I will pursue justice with every fibre of my being,” she declared.