By Innocent Anaba

LAGOS—A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday started hearing in the charge of trans-border trafficking in suspected pirated products brought against Clement Orakwe by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).

Meanwhile, the court yesterday admitted in evidence, the telephone handset seized from the suspect, when he was arrested by operatives of the Commission, which contained alleged text messages exchange between the suspect and some of his collaborators, listing some films they also planned to pirate.

Though the court did not allow the NCC witness, Mr Ajala Oluwafumi, to read out some of the text messages, but he tendered the transcription of the messages, which he admitted transcribing.

The Border Unit of South Africa Police had on December 29, 2007 intercepted a huge consignment of assorted pirated products valued at about 200 million Rands, but considering that the consignee company, Alizzy Cargo Service Nigeria Ltd  is a Nigerian company, the South African authorities transferred the case to Nigerian authorities and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) transferred the case to NCC.