Nigeria Records 25.35 Million Phone Theft Cases in One Year

Between May 2023 and April 2024, Nigeria documented 25.35 million cases of phone theft, making it the most prevalent crime during this period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The data comes from the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, which analyzed the types and prevalence of crimes experienced by Nigerians. The survey highlighted phone theft as the leading crime with 25,354,417 incidents, followed by consumer fraud (12,107,210) and assault (8,453,258). In contrast, auto theft was the least reported crime, with 333,349 cases recorded during the same period.

The report revealed that approximately 90% of phone theft cases were reported to the police, but only 11.7% of the stolen phones were recovered. Despite the low recovery rate, 50% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the police's response to their cases.

Further analysis showed that around 17.97 million Nigerians fell victim to phone theft within the year, with 16.9 million male victims and 1.07 million female victims. Additionally, 4% of victims experienced multiple thefts.

In terms of demographics, individuals aged 45–54 years were most affected, accounting for 7.1% of cases, while those aged 15–24 years were the least affected at 3.4%.

The regional breakdown of crime incidence showed that:

• The North-West region had the highest crime rate, with 14.4 million cases reported.
• The North-Central region followed with 8.8 million cases.
• The South-East region recorded the lowest, with 6.18 million incidents.