The Lagos State House of Assembly has warned that the state government will apprehend and prosecute any person or group of persons found hawking drugs on the streets.

Assemblyman Suru Avoseh, the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, gave the warning in Lagos on Friday at the 3rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Lagos State Medicine Dealers Association.

Avoseh (APC-Badagry I) said that state’s Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the leadership of the association, would arrest anyone found hawking drugs on the streets.

“Hawking of drugs is highly prohibited on the streets of Lagos State; anyone found using wheelbarrow or any other means to hawk drugs will be sanctioned,’’ he warned.

Besides, the lawmaker said that the government would not allow members of the medicine dealers’ association to operate illegally.

He urged them to operate within the laws guiding trade in medicine.

Avoseh said that the committee had intensified efforts to ensure that members of the association, who applied for certification to operate in the state, were considered.

The association’s President, Mr Fidelis Nwokeocha, pledged that members of the association would always abide by the government’s policies.

He said that he had sensitised members of the association to the dangers of stocking and selling drugs, whose source and existence were questionable.

“We do not encourage or support anyone who is involved in such practice; we always ensure that our purchases are genuine.

“We have no doubt that our collaboration with the government is essential in efforts to provide quality medicines for the public,” he said. [NAN]
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