Index: src/java/org/apache/maven/verifier/DependencyVerifier.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/maven/verifier/DependencyVerifier.java	(revision 280184)
+++ src/java/org/apache/maven/verifier/DependencyVerifier.java	(working copy)
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.maven.wagon.events.TransferListener;
 import org.apache.maven.wagon.providers.file.FileWagon;
 import org.apache.maven.wagon.providers.http.HttpWagon;
+import org.apache.maven.wagon.providers.ssh.SftpWagon;
 import org.apache.maven.wagon.proxy.ProxyInfo;
 import org.apache.maven.wagon.repository.Repository;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 
 /**
  * Make sure that everything that is required for the project to build
@@ -369,16 +371,8 @@
 
             Repository repository = new Repository( "repo" + count, remoteRepo.trim() );
 
-            // TODO: would like not to have to initialise the wagons all the time - use a session
-            Wagon wagon;
-            if ( repository.getProtocol().equals( "http" ) )
-            {
-                wagon = new HttpWagon();
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                wagon = new FileWagon();
-            }
+            final Wagon wagon = new DefaultWagonFactory().getWagon(
+                    repository.getProtocol() );
 
             if ( listener != null )
             {
@@ -451,5 +445,48 @@
     // V E R I F I C A T I O N
     // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+    /**
+     * Creates Wagons. Replace it with a IoC container?
+     */
+    private static class DefaultWagonFactory {
+
+        /** log for debug output */
+        private static final Log log = LogFactory
+                .getLog(DefaultWagonFactory.class);
+        private final Map /* <String,Class<Wagon>> */map = new HashMap();
+
+        public DefaultWagonFactory() 
+        {
+            map.put( "http", HttpWagon.class );
+            map.put( "sftp", SftpWagon.class );
+            map.put( "file", FileWagon.class );
+        }
+
+        public final Wagon getWagon( final String protocol ) 
+        {
+	        // TODO: would like not to have to initialise the wagons all the time - use a session
+            Wagon ret;
+            final Class aClass = (Class)map.get( protocol );
+            if ( aClass == null ) 
+            {
+                log.info( "Unknown protocol: `" + protocol
+                        + "'. Trying file wagon" );
+                ret = new FileWagon();
+            }
+            else 
+            {
+                try 
+                {
+                    ret = (Wagon) aClass.newInstance();
+                } 
+                catch ( final Exception e ) 
+                {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                }
+            }
+
+            return ret;
+        }
+    }
 }
 
Index: project.xml
===================================================================
--- project.xml	(revision 280184)
+++ project.xml	(working copy)
@@ -588,6 +588,12 @@
       <artifactId>wagon-file</artifactId>
       <version>1.0-alpha-3</version>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.maven.wagon</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wagon-ssh</artifactId>
+      <version>1.0-alpha-5-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </dependency>
+
     <!-- Runtime dependencies -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>commons-beanutils</groupId>