NDLEA Denies Request to Purchase Sniffer Dogs in 2023 Budget

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday said it did not request to purchase sniffer dogs in its 2023 budget proposal as insinuated in some reports,

NDLEA, the country’s anti- narcotics law enforcement agency, clarified that its position on the cost of specialised dogs was rather in response to a question by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, Hon. Francis Agbo on the need to deploy sniffer dogs at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa made the clarification in a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi.

The statement said Marwa had last Thursday while defending its 2023 budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics explained in response to Agbo’s comment, that the total package of getting a specialised dog including its training costs an average of $15,000 – $20,000.

The statement said: “These are dogs that are able to detect up to 70 different types of drugs and substances. This is indeed open source information that can be verified online by anyone interested in knowing the facts about this kind of dogs.”

It said indeed, the full package of some specialised dogs especially those used for special protection, detection and law enforcement in other jurisdictions cost as much as $30,000; $50,000; $80,000 and more depending on the type of skills and duties such would be trained to perform.

It added that in fact, Harrison K-9, an Aiken, South Carolina, US-based company sells for as much as $230,000.

He said: “This is because acquiring specialised dogs goes beyond the cost of purchase but a total package that includes both the training of the dogs and their handlers as in a team over a period of months.

“It is on record that Marwa, however stated in his response to Agbo’s comment that in addition to the fact that the agency has and uses sniffer dogs provided by the German government, it has acquired new scanners for use at the nation’s airports.

“All of these have been largely responsible for the daily arrests and seizures made by its officers and men. We remain grateful to the German government, which has not only provided the sniffer dogs currently being used by the agency and has even added more this year, but is also building a sniffer dog academy for the use of NDLEA and others in the sub-region.

“This is why the agency has not and did not make any request for the specialized dogs in its current budget proposal before the National Assembly,” the statement revealed.