{"id":170186,"date":"2025-07-19T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T11:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations"},"modified":"2025-07-19T13:46:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T12:46:32","slug":"pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations","title":{"rendered":"PCN seals 618 pharmacies in Rivers, Bayelsa over violations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has sealed 618 pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Rivers and Bayelsa states as part of its ongoing enforcement drive to regulate pharmacy practice and ensure public safety.<\/p>\n

The Council said the affected premises were shut down for various violations, including \u201coperating without valid licenses, failure to renew premises registration, engaging in unauthorized clinical activities, illegal access to controlled medicines, overstocking beyond the approved Patent Medicine List, training of unqualified apprentices, and retailing drugs from wholesale outlets\u201d, practices it described as unethical and unacceptable.<\/p>\n

The exercise, which began earlier this week, covered major local government areas including Port Harcourt, Obio-Akpor, Ikwerre, and Etche in Rivers State, as well as Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa State.<\/p>\n

According to the PCN, a total of 867 premises were inspected, comprising 344 pharmacies and 523 patent medicine stores.<\/p>\n

While 536 premises were sealed in Rivers, 82 premises were sealed in Bayelsa.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the PCN\u2019s National Head of Enforcement, Suleiman Chiroma, said, \u201cThe pharmaceutical landscape in Nigeria has been bedeviled with chaotic drug distribution, unlicensed\/illegal premises, and handling of medicines by unauthorized persons.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further revealed, \u201cA total number of 618 premises were sealed in both states which comprised of 178 pharmacies and 123 patent medicine shops and 317 illegal shops for various offences while 9 premises were issued compliance directives.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Chiroma, five person were arrested and have been handed over to the security agencies for \u201cbreaking the PCN Seal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PCN\u2019s National Head of Enforcement highlighted the \u201cunfettered access to controlled medicines in poison cupboard by non-pharmacists\u2019 staff in pharmacies,\u201d in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

Chiroma noted that the practice allows medicines to get into the hands of unauthorized persons for abuse, which poses a security risk to the general public.<\/p>\n

The Council also raised concerns about some vendors making payments for registration without completing the full process, falsely presenting themselves as licensed.<\/p>\n

Emphasising that \u201cmedicines are poisons and must be regulated,\u201d the PCN reiterated the importance of only trained personnel handling pharmaceutical products.<\/p>\n

He urged the public to verify that pharmacy or patent medicine vendors (PPMVs)<\/p>\n

display their official licences conspicuously within their premises.<\/p>\n

The Council further appealed to residents of Rivers and Bayelsa to be cautious about where they purchase medicines and to report any suspicious activities to the PCN state offices.<\/p>\n

The Council, established by the PCN Establishment Act No. 31 of 2022, is mandated to regulate and control the education, training, and practice of pharmacy in all its facets, as well as enforce the National Drug Distribution Guidelines for the safety and quality of medicines in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has sealed 618 pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Rivers and Bayelsa states as part of its ongoing enforcement drive to regulate pharmacy practice and ensure public safety. The Council said the affected premises were shut down for various violations, including \u201coperating without valid licenses, failure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":170184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[773,254,8419,421],"class_list":["post-170186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-bayelsa","tag-nigeria","tag-pcn","tag-rivers"],"yoast_head":"\nPCN seals 618 pharmacies in Rivers, Bayelsa over violations - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has sealed 618 pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Rivers and Bayelsa states ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PCN seals 618 pharmacies in Rivers, Bayelsa over violations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has sealed 618 pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Rivers and Bayelsa states ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-19T11:35:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-19T12:46:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752916676.207515.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"PCN seals 618 pharmacies in Rivers, Bayelsa over violations\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-19T11:35:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-19T12:46:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752916676.207515.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bayelsa\",\"Nigeria\",\"PCN\",\"Rivers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/pcn-seals-618-pharmacies-in-rivers-bayelsa-over-violations\",\"name\":\"PCN seals 618 pharmacies in Rivers, Bayelsa over violations - 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