Over 25 Million Mobile Phones Stolen in Nigeria in One Year
- Over 17.9 million Nigerians lost 25 million mobile phones to thieves between March 2023 and April 2024
- The NBS survey report shows that 7 out of 10 phone thefts happen at home or in public places
- According to the NBS, 4.1% of victims did not report the phone theft to the police due to a lack of trust in the Nigerian Police
Over 25 million mobile phones were stolen in Nigeria from March 2023 to April 2024, and less than 10% of this number was reported to the police.
This data is based on the recently released National Bureau of Statistics survey results.
The report, Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024, reveals that about 25 million phones were reported stolen from an estimated 17.96 million Nigerians.
This implies that some persons lost more than one mobile phone to thieves during the period.
Source: Getty Images
Most phone thefts unreported
The Nigerian mobile phone market continued to experience an influx of new devices, with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data revealing that the number of type-approved phones has reached about 2,346 in the last 10 years.
Of all the crimes surveyed in the NBS report, phone theft was the most common crime, with an estimated 17,965,741 victims. Unfortunately, over 90% of phone thefts went unreported due to a lack of trust in the police.
Out of those who reported the theft, only 11.7% were recovered.
Most of the victims preferred to report the thefts to their local vigilantes, particularly in the South-East and North Central regions.
The survey report further showed that 21% did not think phone theft was serious enough to report, while 15% thought the police would do nothing to help.
An earlier NBS telecommunications data indicated that Lagos, Ogun, and Kano collectively contributed 23% of Nigeria's total active mobile subscriptions in the first quarter of 2024.
Nigerians paid N2.23trn ransome in one year
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Nigerians paid N2.23 trillion as ransom to kidnappers in over 2 million kidnap cases.
The highest crime incidence was reported in the North West, with about 14.4 million crime incidences, and the North Central came a distant second with 8.8 million crime incidences.
Reporting to the police was low, just like in the phone theft survey, with only 36.3% reporting the incidents to the police.
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Source: Legit.ng
