On May 28, Mr. Karl Toriola, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, would be arraigned by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
In violation of the FCCPC Act, Toriola, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, and others will be charged for allegedly failing to provide the commission with the information and documents it requested in response to a valid summons. Justice H.J. Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja will arraign the firm and its CEO with Tobechukwu Okigbo, MTN’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, and Ikenna Ikeme, MTN’s General Manager, Regulatory Affairs.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Toriola, Okigbo, and Ikeme were identified as the first, second, and fourth suspects, respectively, in the charge designated FHC/ABJ/CR/354/2024 by the FCCPC.
BrandSpur telecoma and information news reports that a group of attorneys led by Akoji Achimugu preferred the suspects with two counts in the charge, which was dated July 19, 2024, and filed July 22, 2024. They weren’t in court when the matter was called. Justice Yilwa questioned Chizenum Nsitem, an FCCP attorney, about the suspects’ location. Nsitem told the court that even though the arraignment of the defendants was the scheduled event, he had only been briefed on the case and would require additional time to review the case file. For arraignment, the judge postponed the case until May 28.
According to NAN, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) had previously charged MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd., its CEO Toriola, MTN Senior Executive Officer Nkeakam Abhulimen, telecommunications service provider Fun Mobile Ltd., and its CEO Yahaya Maibe. On March 20, 2024, the NCC filed the three-count accusation, which is currently before sister court Justice Inyang Ekwo and is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024.
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Between 2010 and 2017, the defendants were accused by the prosecution of: “Offered for sale, sold and traded for business, infringed musical works of Maleke Moye, an artiste, without his consent and authorisation.”
Continuing, the commission said that the defendants have utilized Maleke’s sound recordings and musical compositions, known as “caller ring back tunes,” which are protected by copyright, without the artist’s consent. Among the musician’s allegedly infringed musical compositions and sound recordings are “911, Minimini-Wana Wana, Stop Racism, Ewole, 911 instrumental, Radio, Low Waist, and No Bother.”
In violation of the artist’s rights, they were also accused of unlawfully and without permission distributing the musical compositions to their subscribers. The third count claimed that the suspects possessed the artist’s sound recordings and musical compositions in their hands unless they were being used for domestic or personal purposes. Section 20 (2) (a) (b) and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, are the penalties for the claimed offence, according to the copyright commission.
On February 25, Justice Ekwo postponed the case till May 15 for reporting after the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) expressed interest in taking over.