A recent incident at an Apple Store in London has led to questions about the effectiveness of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Device Management System (DMS) launched in 2024 to block stolen or fake phones from Nigeria’s networks and ensure the safety of buying expensive gadgets in Nigeria.
But gaps in regulation leave consumers exposed.
Pastor Gbenga Samuel-Wemimo and his wife had walked into Apple’s Westfield Stratford City branch to trade in an iPhone purchased in Lagos. To their shock, store attendants declared the phone “stolen.”
Minutes later, after further checks, the term was softened to “missing.” Either way, the device had no trade-in value. “Only God did not let them call the police on us,” Gbenga later wrote, describing how the couple left the store shaken despite presenting receipts.
The case reveals the problem tied to insurance fraud abroad and the global second-hand phone trade. In the UK and other parts of Europe, some individuals buy phones, ship them to markets like Nigeria, then report them lost or stolen to claim insurance replacements.
These flagged devices eventually circulate locally, where unsuspecting buyers, armed with receipts, discover too late that the products are compromised.
For Nigeria, the implications are twofold. First, the country has become a dumping ground for high-risk devices flagged overseas. Second, even when consumers buy from so-called Apple stores in Lagos or Abuja, there is no guarantee of protection.
Apple has no official retail store in Nigeria. What exists are authorised resellers or private businesses trading Apple products, leaving the buyer’s security largely tied to the seller’s integrity.
This is where regulation is supposed to matter. In September 2024, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) introduced the Device Management System (DMS), also known as the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR).
The system was designed to log mobile devices entering the Nigerian market, track their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, and block phones reported as stolen or fake from accessing local networks. NCC mandated mobile network operators to connect to the system to ensure compliance.
The DMS by NCC was meant to be Nigeria’s answer to the problem Gbenga faced in Apple Store, London. However, the situation has barely changed. If the system was working as promised, phones with compromised status in Apple’s global database should be flagged locally before reaching consumers.
Instead, the London ordeal suggests gaps in enforcement, weak monitoring of resellers, and limited coordination with global manufacturers.
Experts have raised similar concerns a the Association of Mobile Communication Device Technicians of Nigeria (AMCODET) has long pushed for better and strict policies, including mandatory registration of mobile phones at the point of purchase.
Kehinde Apara, AMCODET president, argues that without such safeguards, theft and fraud will remain rampant. “Once a phone is properly registered at purchase, it becomes harder for criminals or fraudulent actors to trade it later,” he noted.
The issue is not unique to Nigeria, but the stakes here are higher. With millions of Nigerians spending huge portions of their income on premium phones, the cost of poor regulation cuts deep.
For many, these devices are beyond tools of communication, they leverage them as instruments of work, business, and status. To spend over half a year’s salary on a smartphone, only to discover it has no value outside the country, is a blow that goes beyond embarrassment, it damages trust in the entire retail ecosystem.
Gbenga’s near brush with the police in London should serve as a warning. Until regulators enforce stricter oversight, and until consumers demand accountability from retailers, Nigeria will remain vulnerable to the spillover of insurance fraud abroad and the global black market for devices. The technology is there to protect buyers; what is missing is the will to make it work.
