Over 4m households robbed in one year — Report

• Published On: 18 December 2024 at 21:47

According to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics, a staggering 4,142,174 homes, or 4.8% of Nigerian households, were robbed between May 2023 and April 2024.

The NBS defined home robbery as an incident in which "an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside with the intent of causing harm or dispossessing them of their properties."

The Crimes Experience and Security Perception Survey data provide a comprehensive view of crime trends across Nigeria's geopolitical zones.

The North-West zone had the most home robbery cases (1.06 million), followed by the South-South zone (811,231). In contrast, the South-West zone reported the fewest cases, with 378,252 incidents.

The report found a marginal difference in robbery prevalence between rural and urban areas. While 5.0% of rural households were affected, 4.7% of urban households experienced similar incidents, demonstrating that no region is immune to the threat of home invasions.

Cash topped the list of stolen items, with 65.4% of households reporting financial loss. 55.3% reported stolen cell phones, while 25.5% lost electronic equipment.

Less than half (36.3%) of households that experienced home burglaries reported the crime to police. Among those who reported, only 6.1% were able to recover their stolen property, highlighting the country's crime resolution challenges.

According to the report, 55.7% of affected households were subjected to physical violence during the robberies, with 61.6% reporting the use of weapons. Knives were the most commonly used weapon, accounting for 74.7% of incidents, followed by guns (57.9%). Unfortunately, 4.7% of households reported that at least one person had died as a result of the robbery.

The North-West zone not only had the highest number of robberies, but also the most fatalities as a result of these incidents. The *South-West zone*, which reported the fewest robberies, had no deaths.

The CESPS report depicts a bleak picture of security in Nigerian households, particularly in rural areas and the North-West.

With low reporting rates and minimal recovery of stolen goods, the findings highlight the need for immediate measures to strengthen law enforcement and community security initiatives to reduce home robberies nationwide.