Police Officers of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos on Wednesday arrested the Chairman Bookshop Owners Association, Mushin-Market, Mr Festus I O of Fesco Bookshop and two accomplices for conspiring to pirate and sell the Iyaloja Playbook.
The Police swung into action on Wednesday, 9th February, after a petition was earlier submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Of Police, DCP, SCID, Fayoade Adegoke by the Author and Publisher of the literary Playbook listed in the Lagos State Curriculum for JSS 3, 2021/2022 academic section
After a sting operation, by the Officers led by Inspector Kehinde Pemisire, using undercover agents discovered and bought some pirated copies of the Iyaloja playbook in some of the bookshops in Mushin, owned by the suspects, copies were even sold to students at the Chimax Bookshop in the presence of the undercover agents and officers who witnessed the transaction before identifying themselves to the shop owner.
The author and publisher Tayo Aderinola, stated that over fifteen million Naira had been invested on the book with less than N2m recovered from the investment, alluded that the pirates have made it difficult for him to recover his investments on the publication.
He noted that he approached the same Chairman of the Bookshop owners in October 2021 last year for a possible arrangement for marketing the book and so as to curbed piracy.
Aderinola said “I approached the Chairman, Festus and offered them to market the book in the market. They demanded for just 300 copies and I promptly supplied them, but was surprised that they couldn’t finish selling 300 copies by January, two and a half months after it was delivered to them, they claimed to have sold 224 copies, we had to retrieved the remained 76 copies so as to intensify our investigation”.
He noted that “I had received information in December, from a public school teacher in Mushin that they’ve discovered fake copies of the iyaloja Playbook in Mushin, but she preferred the original hence, prompted her calling me to supply her school, so we commenced investigation and we realized the Chairman distributed the fake copies of the book to Bookshops in Mushin and Oshodi Markets. We also got information that he also used some teachers to sell the fake copies to some schools in and around Mushin.
“In the first week of January, we had to withdraw all the remaining copies supplied the Mushin market through their stockist, Okoro Francis of Humility Bookshop, while our investigation continue” stated the Editor Lagos Panorama Magazine.
“Others involved in this fraudulent act will also be arrested and they will all be charged to court for prosecution as soon as the police conclude with their investigation” he asserted
“I sincerely appreciate the Nigeria Police for doing a thorough job in apprehending the fraudulently wicked pirates, piracy discourages creativity and it is a great economic crime deserving commensurate punitive measure. I am trusting that this will get the deserved attention, so as to serve as a deterrent to others” the National President Community Media Practitioner Association concluded.
