By AbdulSalam Muhammad

KANO — A Kano Magistrate Court has sentenced a fake medical doctor, Ibrahim Muhammad, to seven years imprisonment on a three-count charge of operating illegal clinics at a motor park, selling drugs in an area prohibited by law as well selling dangerous drugs to the public contrary to the provision of Patent Medicine Vendors Licence Guidelines.

The three-count charge, however, attracted an option of fine amounting to N459,000.  The fake doctor was also mandated by the court to pay additional N20,000 to Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, for the sealing off of the premises. The council was also mandated  to confiscate all dangerous drugs from the shop to be forfeited to the PCN.

In the meantime, the Kano State government has concluded arrangement to relocate existing pharmaceutical premises from Muhammad Abubakar Rimi market.

The move which was adopted by the government to sanitise the pharmaceutical activities in the state followed statistics which put the state in an unfortunate position as the highest consumer of illicit drugs in the country.

Commissioner for Health, Aisha Isyaku Kiru, told stakeholder on a courtesy call to her office that Kano State government would not compromise the standard practice that prohibits the pharmaceutical stores from operating in an open market, saying no well-meaning government will allow any citizen to enjoy at the expense of others.

She said the market, as it is today, lacked necessary facilities that guarantee safety of such drugs.

The commissioner, however, debunked insinuations that government was trying to force them out of business, noting that the current effort is in tandem with global practices.