The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, described phone theft as one of the commonest crimes worldwide.
According to him, “It is not just a Nigerian thing. If you go anywhere and get a bit careless, they will take your phone. If you walk in some dark streets of London, they would snatch your phone. It happens everywhere because phones are handy. They are easy to conceal and on high demand worldwide. That makes them attractive to criminals.
There are four factors that make phone theft attractive to criminals.
The first reason is because they are handy. easily concealed. Three, they are in high demand and so, disposing them is not a challenge at all, and the fourth reason, which should of course be of concern to people, is that phone theft could also be a means to an end. Stealing of phones can be an end in itself where the thief is targeting the phone for his personal use or to sell it and make some money from it. In that case, they are stealing the phone as an end in itself. It could also be a means to an end, meaning that they are stealing the phone in order to use it as a tool for committing further crimes.”
Mba further said: “Security agencies worldwide are working aggressively towards dealing with this issue and the Nigeria Police is not an exception. But I think, fundamentally, the citizens have a lot of role to play. On our part, we are already preparing some public enlightenment materials on how people could secure their phones. In no distant time, we will be publishing them because it’s not possible for the police to come and police your phones for you.
“So, you have a duty to take care of your phone. You have a duty to know where to go and where not to go with your phone. If I have an expensive phone and there is a political or religious rally where I know that I would be jumping and crowd would be surging, I would not go with my phone or better still, go with a less expensive phone. If I am going to a night club where I may get high on brandy or whisky, I would keep my phone somewhere else or keep my phone with somebody who does not take alcohol as much as I do. If I am walking on a lonely and deserted area and ungodly hours and I know that, that area is notorious for criminal activities, I will probably put my phone in a way that it will not be so open to criminals. When your phone is stolen, you need to talk to the police, particularly if you think you have sensitive materials or sensitive information on it”
Reacting to allegations of extortion of victims by the police, the Force PRO said: “I don’t know about people paying money to report. If you are asked to pay money, you have a remedy. You can go and report to the DPO in charge of that station or you go to the Commissioner of Police in charge of the state to complain that his men are not being professional. I think the best thing is for people to take preventive measures, because even if your phone is recovered but the money has been taken, that will take another round of investigation to recover your money.”
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