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The Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, has dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by the Copyright Society of Nigeria Ltd/Gte (COSON) against the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), affirming an earlier decision of the Federal High Court refusing to grant an injunction restraining the Commission.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on July 9, 2026, the appellate court also awarded ₦200,000 in costs against COSON.

According to a statement on Saturday, the three-member panel, led by Justice Polycarp Terna Kwahar, with Justice Folasade Ayodeji Ojo and Justice Muslim Sule Hassan concurring, held that there was no existing operating approval that could be preserved through an interlocutory injunction.

The appeal stemmed from COSON’s substantive suit challenging aspects of the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations, 2007.

Pending the determination of the case, COSON had sought an interlocutory injunction restraining the NCC from revoking its operating approval or interfering with its management, finances, bank accounts, audits and royalty collection activities.

However, the Federal High Court, in a ruling delivered on December 1, 2021, declined the application, holding that an interlocutory injunction cannot be granted to restrain an action that had already been completed.

The court noted that COSON’s operating approval had been suspended by the NCC in April 2018 and subsequently expired in May 2019, before the substantive suit and the application for injunction were filed.

In affirming the lower court’s decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that the legal status existing before the commencement of the suit was that COSON’s operating approval had already become inoperative.

Justice Kwahar, in the lead judgment, stated: “Both the Appellant and the Respondent have demonstrated vide their affidavit evidence that the Appellant’s operation had prior to the commencement of the suit become inoperative by virtue of the suspension of the Appellant’s licence and expiration by effluxion of time. That is the status quo ante bellum before the commencement of the suit at the lower Court.”

The appellate court emphasized that the purpose of an interlocutory injunction is to preserve the status quo pending the determination of a substantive case, not to reverse actions that had already taken effect before litigation commenced.

It therefore held that granting the relief sought by COSON would have altered, rather than preserved, the existing legal position, and consequently dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.

Reacting to the judgment, the Nigerian Copyright Commission described the ruling as a reaffirmation of its position that there was no subsisting operating approval for the court to preserve through an injunction.

The Commission further reiterated that COSON is currently not approved to operate as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) in Nigeria.

The judgment is regarded as a significant legal victory for the NCC, reinforcing the Commission’s regulatory authority over collective management organisations and clarifying the legal limits of interlocutory injunctions in disputes involving expired or suspended regulatory approvals.

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The Ex- Chief Security Officer to late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), has faulted claims by a former Department of State Services (DSS) operative, Dennis Amachree, that the former leader died on top of a woman.

Speaking with journalists in Kaduna, Al-Mustapha said the claims contained in the former DSS official’s book were untrue, just as he alleged that the author was influenced by others to write the account, which he described as untrue.

“The boy was asked to write the lies by others. I have all the CCTV footages of what happened in my custody, so what he said are not true,” Al-Mustapha said.

The former security side to Abacha maintained that the account presented in the publication did not reflect what transpired, insisting that he possessed evidence to contradict the assertions made about Abacha’s death.

Al-Mustapha further urged the public to disregard the claims, saying it was wrong to make what he described as false statements against someone who was no longer alive to respond.

“Just ignore his lies. It’s bad to say such things on someone that is dead,” he said.

“But I want to assure you that the author of the book is acting out a script. He is not acting alone. At the appropriate time, I will respond to these lies. You don’t tell your enemies your plans, he added.”

Meanwhile, it would be recalled that retired Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Amachree, claimed that former military Head of State, Abacha died during an intimate encounter with a woman in the early hours of June 8, 1998, dismissing long-standing conspiracy theories surrounding the late ruler’s death.

Amachree made the claim in his newly released 348-page memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, where he recounted his role in the investigation that followed Abacha’s sudden death.

According to him ,Abacha suffered what he described as a coitus-induced cardiac arrest at about 4:05 a.m. inside the Aso Rock Presidential Villa Guest House in Abuja.

He said the woman, whom he identified only as a pharmacist, was later tracked to Lagos and interrogated by him after the DSS received intelligence that she had fled Abuja.

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Troops have neutralised a suspected female ISWAP/JAS spy in Borno and arrested 14 suspected criminals, including IPOB/ESN members, cultists and a deserter soldier in separate operations across the country.

Operational reports made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday said the suspected terrorist was sighted through CCTV cameras approaching a military position from the Sambisa axis.

The report said troops of 222 Battalion at Forward Operating Base Kawuri in Konduga Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno neutralised the suspect before she could reach the defensive perimeter.

It said troops of Operation MESA also arrested a deserter soldier of 13 Brigade at a checkpoint in Bwari Area Council of the FCT.

According to the report, the troops recovered a military uniform and a vehicle from the deserter during the arrest.

“The troops also intercepted another vehicle conveying suspected stolen armoured cables and arrested the driver for further investigation.

“In the South-East, troops of Operation UDO KA apprehended five suspected IPOB/ESN members at Etuekwe Junction in Orsu LGA of Imo,” it said.

The report said the suspects were arrested at a secluded location believed to be a movement route used by the criminal group.

It added that troops of 82 Division Garrison and 103 Battalion, working with other security agencies, arrested eight suspected cultists at Eha-Amufu in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu.

“Preliminary investigation linked the suspects to terrorist activities around the Eha-Amufu border communities between Enugu and Ebonyi states.

“The suspects were subsequently handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation and prosecution,” it added.

The report said troops conducting Operations Desert Sanity V, FANSAN YAMMA and Savannah Shield recorded no major incidents within their respective areas of responsibility during the period under review.

It also disclosed that a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Sub-Delegation, Maiduguri, visited Sector 3 of Operation HADIN KAI/MNJTF at Kinnasara Cantonment in Monguno, Borno.

According to the report, the ICRC team briefed the sector commander on its humanitarian mandate and commitment to promoting International Humanitarian Law and supporting conflict-affected populations across the Lake Chad Basin.

(NAN)