The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria shut down 572 medicine outlets across Plateau State for operating without proper licenses and selling counterfeit drugs, the regulator said on Tuesday.
The council's enforcement team carried out the operation to protect patients from fake medications and ensure only qualified pharmacists dispensed drugs in the state. Officials did not name the outlets or say how long the closure would last.
Violations ranged from operating without registration to selling expired drugs and employing unqualified staff, according to the council. Some outlets had no pharmacist on duty, a requirement under Nigerian pharmacy law. Others stocked medications in unsuitable storage conditions that could degrade the drugs.
Plateau State has struggled with substandard pharmaceutical outlets, particularly in rural areas where regulation is weak. Fake antimalarials, antibiotics, and blood pressure medications have circulated in the state's informal drug markets, sickening patients who bought what they thought were genuine products.
The council said it would conduct inspections across all 17 local government areas of Plateau to identify more illegal outlets. Any pharmacy that fails to meet standards during follow-up inspections will face prosecution, officials warned. The council registers and monitors all pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Nigeria to maintain drug quality and patient safety.
The mass closure comes as Nigeria battles counterfeit drugs that kill thousands yearly. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in ten medications in sub-Saharan Africa is fake or substandard, a crisis that has pushed regulators to crack down harder on rogue outlets.
Plateau's commissioner for health and the Pharmacy Council will meet with legitimate pharmacists next month to review which outlets can reopen once they correct violations. Outlets that cannot meet standards will remain closed.
