From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control( NAFDAC ) has sealed 1,321 patent medical shops in Kano State.
The enforcement which took place at the Sabon-Garri market, Niger Road drug market and Mallam Kato Square market followed a judgment of a Federal High Court in Kano which ruled against the members of the Medical Dealers Association in the state.
In a coordinated operation with the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), the agency insisted the medicine dealers must vacate the open drug markets and relocate to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre along Zaria Road where they can be better regulated.
Speaking at a press conference, NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Francis Ononiwu, explained the measure was designed to sanitise the drug distribution channel in the state and protect the public against fake and sub-standard drugs.
He argued that the wholesale distribution centre would allow for better storage of the drugs, facilitate regulation of operators by regulatory bodies as well as discourage other criminal tendencies. While speaking also, Director Enforcement Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Stephen Esumobi, enjoined the patent medicine dealers in the state to move to the wholesale centre in line with the provision of the law.
Meanwhile, hundreds of the medical dealers, marched to the Government House, Kano, yesterday, to launch their complaints over moves to sack them from their shops and deny them their means of livelihood.
Chairman of the Association of Patent and Proprietorship Medical Dealers in the state, Musbahu Khalid, who spoke at the Government House, told the governor that they were being forced to relocate to a chain of shops that were too expensive for their members to rent.
They appealed to the state government to recover the Warehouse Centre from the private developer and rent them out to them at a reasonable rates.
The governor, represented by his Chief of Staff, Shehu Shagagi, assured the state government would seat with their leaders for further discussion, pledging that government would eventually come up with an option that would be fair to all.