The Department of State Services (DSS) has detained Ben Akpan (pseudonym), a printing vendor, and prevented him from communicating with his loved ones for three days after the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) accused him of copyright infringement for printing the institution’s academic materials for fellow students. Akpan denies he has committed any crime.
Akpan runs a printing press in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He is also a student at NOUN.
NOUN has a unified body, but has its study centres in different states. The administrative body of the institution, domiciled in Abuja, sends copies of course materials to its study centres across the country, and the school is often unable to fully supply the demand of these materials to students.
Subsequently, Akpan, an already-established printing vendor, sent nine emails to NOUN’s management address. He proposed how he could help with printing, but he got no response.
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When Akpan saw a communique published by the Uyo Study Centre that stated that students had the privilege to print some of the materials from the school’s website for examination purposes, he kickstarted the printing process, which he only did on demand, as he claimed.
Akpan explained that he had explicitly disclaimed his affiliation with NOUN to show that he had no affinity with the institution to avoid unnecessary problems.
In November, a lady asked Akpan to print three copies of some of the course materials and deliver it to her brother who was in Uyo at the time. The brother would then take it to her in Abuja to evade logistics fees. But on delivery of the materials, the DSS picked them up.
“We spoke and met on November 2, 2024, after I printed the books. It was after delivery that we were both arrested and taken to the office of the DSS at Lane 2, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,” Akpan recounted.
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It was after he got to the DSS office that Akpan figured that the person he had been arrested with was the Deputy Director General (Operations) of the Nigerian Copyrights Commission.
“It was upon delivery to the person that DSS kidnapped me. When they eventually drove me to Abuja 13 days later, I was told he wasn’t a student, but they asked him to request for the books from me to get me,” Akpan explained.
Akpan told FIJ that when he was in the DSS’ custody, Uyo, he was not tortured, but they coerced him to write a statement exactly as they wanted.
“They basically guided me to write the statement,” he explained. “I was still uncertain what my life would look like so I just went along. At that point, no one knew where I was.”
When Akpan was arrested on November 2, he was not allowed to contact friends and family members until November 4. His family panicked and declared him missing.
He was released on November 5 only after an acquaintance arrived with a civil servant to secure his administrative bail, but he was told to visit the DSS office every four days “to show responsibility”.
“I would just be in the waiting room from morning till evening. By evening, I would be asked to go show myself to the director,” Akpan said.
On the third visit, he was told to come with his surety. Not suspecting a thing, Akpan was put in a vehicle and driven to Abuja.
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“I asked where we were going and no response was given,” he narrated.
“I kept asking if we were going to court, or to Ikot Ekpene prisons, they said they didn’t know. I was just in the dark till we entered Kogi State. That was where I could know where we were headed.”
In a court file FIJ obtained, the copyright commission filed an amended three-count copyright infringement charge against Akpan at the Abuja Federal High Court.
“They are claiming that my actions have caused them (NOUN) economic sabotage meanwhile they are also acknowledging that they have collected money for the books from all students,” the vendor said.
“In another public statement they issued in March, they said students do not pay for the hard copies, that they are not a right but a privilege. Now in court, they have admitted that students paid for the materials.
“I was told I infringed on their copyright. I have explained that the students have a right to the soft copy materials. And we were told that students could print out their soft copy materials.”
On Tuesday, FIJ sent a text and an email to Ibrahim Sheme, NOUN’s Director of Media and Publicity. Sheme had yet to respond to the email and text message at press time.
The post NOUN Said Students Could Print Course Materials. It Used DSS, Copyright Commission to Prosecute Vendor for Doing Just That appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.