The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency spends over N100million annually to maintain its ten sniffer dogs, investigation has revealed.
The sum of N10million is expended on the training and the procurement of nutritional needs and medications for each of the special dogs.
Our correspondent also gathered that the personnel who maintained the dogs on behalf of the NDLEA are usually invited from outside the country.
It was also learnt that before the dogs could be useful to the agency in its war against narcotics and other illicit drugs, they have to be specially trained for the purpose with a view to getting the desired results.
NDLEA, it was gathered, has purposely trained the dogs individually and separately as teams for the detection of drugs wherever they are hidden within the confine of the area under search.
Spokesperson of the agency, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, who declined to reveal the actual cost of training each of the special breed, told our correspondent that “some dogs are trained for the purpose of detecting explosives and firearms, cash, tobacco, illegal immigrants, cadaver and hydrocarbons as well as rescue dogs (mountain and urban disaster) and for personal protection”.
Ofoyeju said that dogs could be the most reliable and consistent factor in the detection of illegal substances and firearms, adding that they had become effective in searching for missing people, transport and property.
He said, “With the global rise in drugs trade and an escalation in terrorism, our country could do with more specialist detection dogs than we actually envisage.”
Further investigations by our correspondent, however, revealed that to maintain a dog that is capable of performing any of the aforesaid special assignments, “special care must be provided in terms of feeding, health, updated trainings and sundry things that would keep them agile and alert at all times.”
A source at the Shaw –Road, Lagos office of the NDLEA, had earlier told our correspondent that, “dogs can smell about 10,000 times better than humans. Dogs have 300 million scent receptors, which is why I can confidently tell you that dogs know better.
“When someone puts a spoonful of sugar in our coffee, a dog would detect that spoonful in a million of gallons of water.
“The main thing you want to concentrate on is a complete meal, with a good balance of micronutrients and protein that’s easy to digest and meets the dog’s needs and this costs a lot,” he said.
Our correspondent also gathered that to keep these dogs in good form required the services of an experience personnel who is versed in training for the various hostile environments with a view to achieving result.
“The personnel must be that person who has vast experience in training foreign nationals from a number of different countries, which is exactly what NDLEA has been doing”, said another source, who pleaded anonymity.
The source further revealed that it cost a lot of money to achieve this, noting that that was the reason it costs the NDLEA millions of Naira annually to train this special breed of dogs.
“You have to also understand the fact that a dog’s nose not only dominates her face, but her brain, as well. In fact, a dog relies on her sense of smell to interpret her world, in much the same way as people,” he said.
The agency’s spokesperson, however, said that the,”NDLEA as an organisation, has no regret maintaining sniffer dogs that have actually made the job of personnel better and easier. Our dogs have been performing excellently well”.
