Unbelievable Surge In Phone Theft: FG Confirms Over 25 Million Stolen In A Year

Unbelievable Surge In Phone Theft: FG Confirms Over 25 Million Stolen In A Year

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a government agency, has revealed a shocking statistic in its latest report on crime in Nigeria. According to the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, over 25 million phones were stolen between May 2023 and April 2024,…Unbelievable Surge In Phone Theft: FG Confirms Over 25 Million Stolen In A Year

making phone theft the most common crime during that period.

The report highlighted that phone thefts (25.35 million) topped the list of crimes, followed by consumer fraud (12.1 million) and assault (8.4 million). In contrast, car hijackings (333,349) were among the least reported crimes.

A majority of the phone thefts occurred either at home or in public places, and nearly 90% of these incidents were reported to the police. However, only 11.7% of the stolen phones were recovered.

The prevalence of phone theft is staggering, with an estimated 17.97 million Nigerians affected, 16.9 million of whom were male, and a small number of female victims. Furthermore, 4% of those affected by phone thefts were victims more than once.

In total, the report estimates that 55.16 million individual crime incidents were reported across Nigeria. Males were disproportionately impacted, with 33.59 million incidents, while females experienced 21.58 million crimes.

Interestingly, the report revealed that the North-West region had the highest crime rate, with 14.4 million incidents, while the South-East region had the lowest at 6.18 million. Rural areas were more affected than urban ones, with 26.53 million incidents reported in rural households compared to 25.36 million in urban areas.

The survey also raised concerns about the responsiveness of Nigeria’s security agencies. It found that only 33.1% of Nigerians reported security agencies responding to emergency calls within 30 minutes. A significant portion of the population also turned to local vigilante groups, particularly in rural areas, due to perceived inefficiency from the police, especially in cases of livestock and crop theft.

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