Ibrahim Idris, a graduate of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi was recently stabbed to death by phone snatchers at Yar'akwa community in the Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State.
The late Idris was heading to another area, Karkasara to pick a printed banner for his new business that he intended to launch the following day before he was killed along the road.
His elder brother, Abdulwahab Idris told Nigeria Info how his brother was stabbed in the chest and his smartphone stolen.
"Around 5:00 pm on that faithful day, he went to pick his banner along Karkasara.
“The next call we received was from a policeman who told us that Yar'akwa policemen were on patrol when they found Idris lying in the pool of his blood and they rushed him to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
“He just graduated September last year,” He narrated.
Increasing Reports of Phone Snatching
Blessing Iorkyaan, a serving corps member is another victim of phone-snatching in the pyramid city.
She narrated how three armed youth in a tricycle (rickshaw) snatched her smartphone at knifepoint on Sunday.
"I stood at Sokoto Road waiting for a tricycle when one abruptly stopped at my front.
“One of the passengers hurriedly dropped, brought out a knife and threatened to stab me if I refused to give him my purse.
“I ceded the purse and they drove away immediately,” She explained.
- Phone thieves often collaborate with tricycle (keke) drivers
- 1,576 phone thieves arrested in 2021
- Courts fail to convict phone thieves
Stolen Phones Sold for N10,000 or Less
Mustapha Hayatu Rabi'u was similarly stabbed in the head when six armed men invaded his family house on Ring Road at midnight.
He said the attackers stole six smartphones and some money.
Last month, the Kano State Police Command arrested 18-year-old Abdussamad Suleiman for allegedly killing her aunty, Rukayya Jamilu, after stealing her three mobile phones.
During the attack on Mrs. Jamilu’s home, Suleiman reportedly hit the 21-year-old housewife with a pestle on her head when he realised she had recognised him.
Nigeria Info learned he eventually sold the phones for N14,000.
Another teenager, Umar Musa, was recently arrested for phone snatching and has been arraigned by the police.
"I usually sit at the back of tricycles with passengers. I will remove their phones and pass it to another guy sitting beside the tricycle driver at the front. We will then drop the passenger and tell him we are not going his way again,” the 14-year-old Musa narrated.
“We sell the smartphones at N10,000 each to one Saipullahi and we share the money with the owners of the tricycles. This is our fifth outing and we have snatched over 10 phones," he concluded.
These are just a few of the series of phone snatching incidents being recorded daily in Kano.
Most of them are aided by tricycle operators in the state.
Police Arrests Increase, But the Courts Fail to Convict Suspects
The chairman of Tricycle Operators Association in Kano (TOAKAN), Sani Sa'idu Dankoli is worried about the trend.
He’s also distressed by the failure of the judiciary to convict suspects.
“The only challenge we are facing now is that whenever these suspects are taken to court, they will be released due to a claim that they were not caught with dangerous weapons during their arrests," he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Kano, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa said 1,576 suspected phone snatchers were arrested in Kano in 2021.
80 more suspects were arrested in the first quarter of 2022.
But the rate of conviction does not match that of arrests. Nigeria Info could not get any data on the number of convictions made by the judiciary.
Mr. Kiyawa has assured that the police are reviewing their strategy to stem the increase in phone snatching.
