The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that over 25 million mobile phones were stolen from May 2023 to April 2024.
This alarming statistic was highlighted in the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), making phone theft the most prevalent crime during this period.
The report revealed that 90% of these phone theft incidents were reported to the police, but only 11.7% of the stolen devices were recovered.
Most of these thefts occurred either at home or in public places. It was also noted that approximately 17.97 million Nigerians experienced phone theft, with a higher number of male victims.
Regionally, the North-West reported the highest incidence of crime with 14.4 million cases, followed by the North-Central region with 8.8 million incidents.
Conversely, the South-East recorded the least number of crimes, with 6.18 million incidents. The survey also found that rural areas were more affected by crime compared to urban areas.
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