Startling: See The Number Of Illegal Pharmaceutical Premises That Have Been Sealed In Nigeria In 4 Years

A total of 19,059 illegal pharmaceutical premises have been shut down across the country in the last four years by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).

This was made known by the PCN Registrar, Pharm Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, on Saturday during the presentation of the gazetted PCN (Establishment) Act 2022.

“From 2018 to the 8th of October 2022, a total of 27, 262 facilities were visited for enforcement activities. Out of this number, we have closed down a total of 19, 059 of them,” Daily Post quoted Ahmed as saying. 

According to the Registrar, 16,502 pharmacy premises were shut down as patent medicine shops, while 1,780 others were sealed for operating illegally as pharmaceutical premises.

Ahmed further explained that a total of 110 persons were arrested by the council for illegal activities and are at various stages of prosecution within the period under review.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Governing Council of PCN, Prof. Ahmed Tijjani Mora, said with the new Act, the council has been changed from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN).

Prof. Mora noted that the council has been empowered under the new Act to regulate not just pharmacists but all stakeholders involved in the pharmacy distribution chain including pharmacy technicians and patent medicine vendors, manufacturers and importers, among others.