Agency Chairman Buba Marwa was quoted as saying more sniffer dogs were needed to combat drug trafficking and the cartels responsible for it during an appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Narcotics to defend the agency's budget.
There were rumors that Marwa had said a sniffer dog could cost as much as $20,000.
However, Nigerians panned the idea, saying that the sum was excessive.
On the other hand, Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA Femi Babafemi said in a statement released on Saturday that contrary to what had been implied in some reports, Maruwa had not made any such request.
According to the statement, "the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency did not request to purchase sniffer dogs in its 2023 budget proposal."
When asked about the need for sniffer dogs at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the organization's position on the cost of specialized dogs was a response to a question posed by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, Hon. Francis Ottah Agbo.
On Thursday, November 3, while defending its 2023 budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (ret. ), explained in response to Hon. Agbo's comment that the total package of getting a specialized dog including its training costs an average of $15,000-$20,000.
These dogs have the ability to sniff out as many as 70 different substances. This is public knowledge that can be independently verified by anyone curious about these dogs.
To train a dog to perform the skills and duties required for special protection, detection, and law enforcement can cost as much as $30,000, $50,000, $80,000, or more.
There is a $230,000 price tag on a dog from Harrison K-9, which is located in Aiken, South Carolina, USA. This is because the total cost of acquiring specialized dogs includes not just the price of the dogs themselves but also the time and money invested over several months in training the dogs and their handlers to work together as a team.
He continued by saying that in response to Hon. Agbo's comment, Marwa said that the Agency had purchased new scanners to use at the country's airports in addition to the sniffer dogs provided by the German government.
"We continue to be appreciative of the German government, which has supplied the sniffer dogs currently used by the Agency and added more this year, and which is also constructing a sniffer dog academy for the use of NDLEA and others in the sub-region.
For this reason, the statement continued, "the Agency has not and has not made any request for the specialized dogs in its current budget proposal before the National Assembly."
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