The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified efforts to strengthen its ability to detect concealed narcotics at Nigeria’s entry points, putting its canine handlers through specialised retraining by German technical experts.
The refresher course, organised in collaboration with Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), focused on improving the ability of NDLEA handlers and their service dogs to detect narcotics and respond effectively to increasingly sophisticated methods employed by drug traffickers.
The training was conducted at the NDLEA Canine Unit Facility in Lagos by two German technical dog-handling experts, Andreas Roscher and Jacqueline Shüler.
According to a press statement by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, 11 personnel from the Canine Unit, comprising the unit commander, two veterinary doctors and eight dog handlers, participated in the exercise alongside their service dogs. Five additional NDLEA officers from commands in Lagos who had expressed interest in joining the Canine Unit also participated.
He noted that rather than being limited to classroom instruction, the exercise included practical simulations at some of the country’s busiest aviation and maritime facilities, including the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) baggage hall, APM Terminals Apapa and the MMIA NAHCO export shed.
The participants were trained in advanced obedience and control, narcotics detection, scent imprinting and search patterns, as well as the safe deployment of canine assets during high-risk operations.
The exercise is significant to the agency’s interdiction efforts as traffickers increasingly resort to sophisticated concealment methods to move illicit drugs through airports, seaports and land borders.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), said the training underscored the agency’s determination to maintain a highly skilled workforce capable of responding to evolving drug-trafficking techniques.
“Our canine teams remain one of the most potent assets in our detection and interdiction efforts, and this is why we will continue to invest in their retraining and welfare,” Marwa said.
He noted that the agency’s interceptions of concealed narcotics at airports, seaports and border posts had benefited significantly from the capabilities of its sniffer dogs and handlers.
“The successes we have recorded at our airports, seaports and border points in intercepting concealed narcotics are in no small measure due to the dedication and sharpened instincts of our dogs and their handlers,” he said.
According to him, the collaboration with the German authorities would further strengthen the agency’s operational capacity while bringing its canine operations closer to international standards.
The NDLEA chief, however, acknowledged manpower and logistical gaps confronting the Canine Unit, particularly the need for additional service dogs, trained personnel and boarding facilities.
He said the agency needed to expand the unit’s capacity to provide adequate canine coverage across Nigeria’s seaports, international airports and land borders.
Marwa disclosed that steps were being taken to address the identified gaps, while supporting the recommendation that the specialised refresher training should become an annual exercise.
The training therefore goes beyond improving the skills of existing handlers, with the participation of prospective recruits indicating an effort by the agency to expand the pool of personnel capable of working with its narcotics detection dogs.
The NDLEA’s Canine Unit has become an important component of the agency’s interdiction operations, particularly in environments where traffickers attempt to conceal narcotics in baggage, cargo and other consignments.
With the latest training, the agency is seeking to strengthen both the technical skills of its handlers and the reliability of its canine teams as they operate across the country’s major gateways for international and domestic movement.
