25 million phones stolen in 12 months, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported over 25 million phone thefts between March 2023 and April 2024, according to its Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024.

The NBS report, titled Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024, indicated that an estimated 17,965,741 people had their phones stolen during the reference period.

Phone theft, which is a common individual crime in the country, shows that seven out of every 10 stolen phones happened at home or public places, with a mere 11.7% of people who reported to the police expressing satisfaction with their response. Less than 10% of the victims of phone theft reported the case to the police, while over 90% failed to report to the police for various reasons.

“At the individual level, 21.4 per cent of Nigerians reported being victims of crime, and the most common crime was phone theft (13.8%),” the report read in part.

The report suggests that the increase in phone theft and other crimes is linked to a lack of trust in the police, leading many victims to turn to local vigilante groups. The survey found that 53% of households in the Southeast and 50.4% in the North-Central region contacted vigilantes first, compared to just 26.3% in the Southwest.

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In both rural and urban areas, vigilantes were the first choice for 40.9% and 35.5% of households, respectively, instead of the police.

According to the report, 4.1% of phone theft victims who failed to report the case to the police did so due to their fear and dislike of the police and also because they did not desire any involvement with the police. 15.1% of the victims did not report because they thought the police would do nothing to help them recover their stolen phones, while 21% felt it was not serious enough.

35.3% of phone theft cases happened in public places, while 35% happened in victims’ homes.

The report further noted that only 11.7 per cent of reported stolen phones were recovered.