The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), in an enforcement excercise, shut down 666 medicine stores in open drug markets and other locations in Kaduna state .
Addressing newsmen yesterday in Kaduna, the Director Enforcement of the PCN, Stephen Esumobi, said the PCN also carried out the enforcement excercise in Zaria LGA of the state.
At the end of the enforcement which began early in the week, Esumobi said a total of 895 premises were visited.
“ We visited 75 pharmacies, 514 patent medicine shops, 306 other premises .
“The premises sealed included 47 pharmacies, 313 patent medicine shops and 306 illegal medicine shops,” he said.
He explained that the presmises were sealed for offences ranging from sale of medicines in the open drug market, operating without registration with PCN, poor documentation, poor storage facilities, stocking of ethical products without the supervision of a pharmacist.
Esumobi added that other offences were wholesalers engaging in retail activities, non-pharmacists having access to poison cupboards, patent medicine shops engaging in clinical practice and training apprentices among others.
“One major obstacle militating against the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines in Nigeria is the sale of medicines in open drug markets.
“Many medicine shops in the open drug markets and some other locations across the Kaduna state are not registered by the PCN and are operating illegally.
“The storage conditions for medicines in these premises are poor as medicines are stored at temperature and humidity conditions that are at variance with manufacturers recommnendations.
“The implication of this is that most of the medicines sold in these locations may no longer be fit for human consumption due to degradation of the active ingredients.
“Some of the products of degradation of these medicines are harmful thus posing a threat to public health.
“The premises do not have pharmacists to supervise the sale of ethical medicines and other medicines with narrow margin of safety thus exposing consumers to harmful consequences of the wrong use of the medicines,”he said.
Speaking further, the director said most of the medicine dealers engage in the illegal sale of substances of abuse to members of the public, thereby aggravating the social and security challenges emanating from the illicit use of the medicines.
He said the PCN had communicated on many occasions with the relevant stakeholders in open drug markets in Zaria and Kaduna city on the need to relocate to registrable locations or a coordinated wholesale centre as their activities are in total violation of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines.

There is growing concern over shortage of foodstuff and other commodities in Maiduguri as thousands of residents struggle for survival, aftermath ravaging flood.
The Tide’s source reports that the flood submerged major markets including grain, fruit and vegetable depots in the town, while many shopping complexes and plazas continue to remain closed.
The development had led to shortage of food items making the prices of the few available ones to be high.
“It is difficult to find foodstuff now as all major markets are submerged.
“I can’t operate my restaurant in-spite of pressure from customers, because the foodstuff I stocked have been exhausted,” Hajara Mohammed said.
Other food vendors who attended to customers the previous day, including, Amina Isa, Rhoda Abdullahi and Jummai Mohammed said their stocks had also been exhausted and there was nowhere to restock.
The Tide source reports that the health sector was also affected as a result of the flood that submerged the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and Maiduguri Specialist Hospital.
Already, some residents have started showing concern over possible public health crisis, including outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and other water borne diseases.
They specifically expressed worry over the flood that washed away corpses at the Maiduguri cemetery.
Meanwhile, Gov. Babagana Zulum had gone round some emergency camps to distribute cash to displaced persons as they awaits the arrival of foodstuff.

The Head Coach of Okrika United FC, IsaacTama has commended the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara for hosting of the Simplified Football Tournament in the State.
Coach Tama made the commendation yesterday after Okrika United defeated Degema LGA 2-0 at the competition holding at the Sharks Football Stadium in Port Harcourt.
He expressed joy over his side’s victory, saying that his team had worked so hard before the kick-off of the tournament.
“The Governor has done very well because it has been like five to six years we saw competions among the 23 LGAs in the State.
” As you can see, we are very happy because this tournament is showcasing our local players from all the LGAs.
” So, I thank Governor Sim Fubara. We trained over two months before the competition so we prepared very well, I am surprised that we scored only two goals. The first half was so tough because the Degema team was so hard and rough in their approach, so my players were distraught. In the second half, I made two substitutions that yielded the two zero win. I saw that they were playing karate football so I changed the strategies to play from defence and attacking from the wings.
” You know, the competition has three phases, the first is to come out of the group stage, for now, we are pushing from the group stage, then, we move on” Tama said.
He described the CTC chairman of Okrika LGA, Princess Oga as the best chairman in the State, adding that she released money for the team on time.
“Before we started, we asked for N12.8 million and she did not delay in taking action. She even promised to pay players N30, 000 each if we win the match we just played. “Women CTC Chairmen are the best ooh?, ” Tama stated.