Scanners installed at various Nigerian airports do not have the capacity to detect drugs, an official of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told a Senate panel yesterday.

The revelation was made against the backdrop of the arrest last December of a Nigerian student, Miss Zainab Aliyu, by Saudi Arabian authorities for alleged drug trafficking.

Although she was released alongside another Nigerian, Mr Ibrahim Abubakar, the Senate had resolved to probe the matter on April 30, the same day they were released.

The joint Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and Drugs and Narcotics also heard that Executive Order 1 issued by the Executive arm also reduced the number of agencies that check luggage of international passengers.

An official of FAAN working at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Mr El-Yakub Usman, told the joint panel ‎that they had to comply with provisions of the Executive Order, issued to ease business in the country.

“We have scanners at the airport. But our scanners are not configured to detect drugs,” the FAAN official said. When a member of the committee, Mr Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano) asked if they had sniper dogs, another official said they have 14 dogs, provided and trained by Germans and kept at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Daily Trust