The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed 505 illegal and non-compliant medicine outlets in Cross River State following a four-day enforcement exercise that uncovered widespread violations of pharmaceutical regulations across the state.
The operation, carried out between Monday and Thursday, targeted unregistered pharmacies and patent medicine stores operating outside the law. According to the council, the enforcement is part of efforts to protect public health, eliminate quackery and support the Federal Government’s Universal Health Coverage agenda by ensuring access to safe, quality-assured medicines.
Speaking in Calabar on Friday, Suleiman Chiroma, who represented the Registrar of the PCN, Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed, said inspectors visited 602 premises across 10 local government areas, with 505 outlets found to be in violation of regulatory requirements.
The affected premises comprised 291 illegal medicine outlets, 54 pharmacies and 160 patent medicine stores, representing about 48.3 per cent of all facilities inspected.
“These premises are operated by quacks and untrained persons who are not accountable to any statutory authority,” Chiroma said, warning that medicines handled by unqualified persons could result in treatment failures, antimicrobial resistance and other avoidable health complications.
He disclosed that only 42.5 per cent of the registered pharmacies inspected complied fully with regulatory standards, while just 26.8 per cent of patent medicine vendors met the council’s requirements. Thirteen compliance directives were also issued to operators to rectify identified infractions.
Chiroma cited the recent conviction of Ezea Kamchekwube, who was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for operating unlicensed medicine shops in Calabar, as evidence that the council was intensifying enforcement against illegal drug outlets.
He assured residents that the exercise would continue across the state and urged the public to purchase medicines only from outlets displaying valid PCN licences, warning that violators would face appropriate sanctions.