PCN seals 505 illegal drug premises in Cross River

The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has reportedly sealed 505 illegal and non-compliant drug premises in Cross River State, saying nearly half of all shops inspected were operating outside the council’s regulatory framework.

The council disclosed this while briefing journalists on Friday in Calabar, saying a four-day enforcement exercise across 10 local government areas inspected 602 premises and found that 48.3 per cent were operating illegally, a figure it described as a decimal performance of regulation in the state.

The Registrar of the council, Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, represented by Dr Suleiman Chiroma, said the exercise uncovered 291 illegal outlets, all of which were sealed on the spot, alongside 54 pharmacies and 160 patent medicine stores found to be in breach of regulatory requirements.

He said, “In the inspection exercise, we uncovered 291 illegal outlets. All of them were totally sealed on the spot, along with 54 pharmacies and 160 patent medicine stores found in breach of regulations and establishment guidelines.”

“The recent case of Mrs Ezea Asidora Kamchekwube, who ran two unlicensed shops in Calabar and was recently sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment by the Federal High Court, is a signal and proof that Pharmacy Council of Nigeria enforcement now carries real legal weight, not just administrative sanctions,” he stated.

He added that 13 compliance directives were also issued to operators, giving them an opportunity to rectify identified infractions.

He said only 42.5 per cent of the registered pharmacies inspected were fully compliant, while just 26.8 per cent of patent medicine vendors met regulatory standards, indicating that many licensed operators also failed to meet the required standards.