The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to curb sales of pirated copyright materials at airports across the country.

The NCC Director-General, Dr John Asein, and the FAAN Managing Director, Captain Hamisu Yadudu, signed the MoU in Abuja.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the NCC Director, Public Affairs, Vincent Oyefeso.

Asein thanked FAAN for supporting the commission’s fight against copyright piracy just as he expressed concern that a good number of books and Digital Video Discs (DVDs) on display were pirated at the nation’s airports.

“Apart from the injury to right owners, the display of pirated materials was tarnishing the image of Nigeria in the sight of airport users,” he said.

Responding, Yadudu reiterated the agency’s commitment to ensuring that all activities around the airports were legal.

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According to him, the aviation industry does not tolerate or encourage fraudulent activities but ensures that standards are maintained, in line with acceptable practices and regulations.

He, therefore, warned all airport users including passengers, handlers, concessionaires, and shop operators to always ensure that their operations did not jeopardise the interests of other persons.

The FAAN boss added that the protection of arts, culture, and works in the entire creative industry “is a worthy course which is in line with international aviation protocols”.

He welcomed the NCC proposal for operatives of the two agencies to engage in covert operations, surveillance, and compliance checks on sales outlets.

The provisions of the MOU cover joint enforcement to curb copyright infringements, training, intelligence sharing, and arrest of persons dealing in infringing materials at the airports and environs.

The Star