(PCN. Photo by Vanguard News)
The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed 505 illegal and non-compliant medicine outlets in Cross River State following an enforcement exercise that uncovered widespread violations within the state’s drug retail sector.
The council disclosed this during a press briefing in Calabar on Thursday, explaining that its four-day operation across 10 local government areas covered 602 premises, of which 48.3 per cent were found operating outside regulatory requirements.
Speaking on behalf of the Registrar of PCN, Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, Dr Suleiman S. Chiroma disclosed that the exercise resulted in the sealing of 291 illegal medicine outlets, 54 pharmacies and 160 patent medicine stores over various breaches, adding that 13 compliance directives were issued to operators given the opportunity to rectify identified infractions.
He cited the recent conviction of Mrs Ezea Asidora Kamchekwube, who ran two unlicensed medicine shops in Calabar and was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment by the Federal High Court, as proof that the council’s enforcement drive now carries real legal consequences.
According to Chiroma, only 42.5 per cent of the registered pharmacies inspected were found fully compliant, while just 26.8 per cent of patent medicine vendors met regulatory standards.
He explained that the violations ranged from operating without valid licences and poor storage practices to unauthorised access to controlled medicines and unsupervised training of apprentices, describing many of the affected outlets as run by quacks and untrained individuals with no accountability to any regulatory authority.
He urged residents to patronise only outlets displaying valid PCN licences, warning that medicines handled by unqualified persons could result in treatment failures, antimicrobial resistance and avoidable health complications.
The PCN official said the enforcement drive forms part of efforts to support the Federal Government’s Universal Health Coverage agenda by ensuring Nigerians have access to safe, quality-assured medicines.
He commended residents of Cross River State for cooperating with enforcement teams and assured that monitoring would continue, with sanctions to be imposed on any outlet found violating regulatory standards, warning that the crackdown in the state was only beginning and that efforts to eliminate fake and unregistered drug businesses would be sustained.