NCC arraigns 3 men for pirating text books

The Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) on Thursday arraigned Chukwuebuka Ugwu, James Otito and Philip Nnadi at the Federal High Court in Enugu for pirating text books.

When the one-count charge was read to the accused persons, they pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution counsel, Mr Paul Anagonye, told the court that following a tip-off, a team of NCC officers stormed the stationary line at Ogbete Main Market in Enugu where they discovered a lot of pirated copies of books of different kinds in the market.

“My Lord, when my client entered the market, most of the book dealers ran away while three of them were arrested.

“The accused persons were pirating books that do not belong to them without any authorisation letter from the owners.

“These books were recovered from their shops; during interrogation it was observed that the accused persons had been in the business for the past 10 years,’’ he said.

Anagonye also said that a concerned citizen had told his client that the pirated copies were printed at a printing press on Kenyatta Street in Enugu.

The counsel to the accused persons, Mr Ejike Chigbo, said that his clients had never been involved in any piracy since they started the business.

He said that the accused persons were set up by their colleagues because they were making more progress than others in the business.

The accused persons were remanded in prison custody as the presiding judge, Justice D.V. Agishi, adjourned the case to June 3 for further hearing.