The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has shut down 430 medicine outlets across 10 Local Government Areas in Yobe State after a four-day enforcement operation uncovered widespread breaches of pharmaceutical regulations.

The council’s Head of Department, Enforcement, Mr Suleiman Chiroma, disclosed this in Damaturu on Friday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the exercise.

According to Chiroma, the enforcement team visited 601 medicine premises during the operation. The facilities comprised 34 pharmacies, 267 Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendor (PPMV) outlets and 300 premises operating without registration.

He said the 300 unregistered outlets were all sealed, while 20 pharmacies and 110 patent medicine shops were closed for different regulatory violations.

The council also issued 21 compliance directives to operators found to have breached regulations but whose offences did not warrant immediate closure.

The enforcement operation covered Damaturu, Jakusko, Potiskum, Fika, Fune, Nguru, Nangere, Bade, Karasuwa and Machina Local Government Areas.

Chiroma said the scale of illegal operations uncovered was alarming, noting that half of all the premises inspected were operating outside the regulatory framework.

“Illegal premises were scattered throughout the length and breadth of the state, underscoring the need for the council to intensify its regulatory activities in Yobe,” he said.

The exercise, he added, also highlighted the limited availability of formal pharmaceutical services in the state. Of the 601 premises inspected, only 34 were pharmacies, accounting for about six per cent.

Chiroma said the inspection further revealed that just 41 per cent of the pharmacies met the required regulatory standards, compared with 63 per cent compliance among the patent medicine outlets inspected.

Among the violations recorded were operating without valid PCN licences, inadequate storage facilities and unauthorised access to controlled medicines.

‘’Other violations are the use of unqualified persons and apprentices in ways contrary to regulatory requirements, ‘’ he said.

He warned that these practices could put residents at risk of obtaining substandard, falsified or improperly stored medicines, with possible consequences including treatment failure, drug abuse, antimicrobial resistance and preventable deaths.

Chiroma also raised concerns about the security implications of unauthorised access to controlled medicines, saying diverted pharmaceutical products could find their way into criminal networks.

The exercise was conducted on the directive of the PCN Registrar, Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, as part of efforts to enforce the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria Establishment Act No. 31 of 2022.

The council, he said, was also implementing the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, which are designed to curb the circulation of counterfeit and adulterated medicines and improve control over pharmaceutical distribution.

‘’It also seeks to eliminate unregulated drug markets and strengthen oversight of medicine distribution, ‘’ Chiroma said.

He noted that the guidelines had also led to the establishment of Coordinated Wholesale Centres in Kano, Lagos, Onitsha and Aba, with the Kano facility currently fully operational.

According to Chiroma, the PCN would continue to work towards ensuring that Nigerians have access to safe, effective, quality-assured and affordable medicines.

He said the effort was consistent with the Federal Government’s health priorities and the objective of achieving Universal Health Coverage.

Chiroma urged Yobe residents to patronise only medicine outlets licensed by the PCN and to ensure that the premises display valid licences prominently.

“The public is strongly advised to obtain medicines exclusively from premises licensed by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria,” he said.

He thanked residents for their cooperation during the operation and called for continued public support to improve pharmaceutical services across Yobe.

Chiroma also warned that regulatory monitoring would continue, stressing that all premises involved in the handling, storage and dispensing of medicines remained subject to inspection and enforcement action where violations were detected.