The Nigeria Police Force has raided facilities allegedly used to manipulate online conversations ahead of the 2027 general elections and arrested a suspect accused of spreading false information about a political candidate.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, titled AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote.

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Abdullahi, who represented the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, said the operations followed investigations into coordinated attempts to interfere with the electoral process.

He explained that the facilities, commonly known as phone farms, contain large numbers of mobile phones and automated accounts used to create the impression that many people are discussing or promoting a particular subject online.

According to him, a single individual could operate hundreds of devices simultaneously to influence public opinion and manipulate online conversations.

We have recently come across information regarding the coordinated effort being made by some individuals to see that they tamper with our elections.

Having dissected the information, we were able to carry out targeted raids at phone farms, he said.

Abdullahi added that the police had disrupted some of the operations following the raids.

The police chief’s representative also revealed that a suspect was being held over the alleged circulation of misleading information about a political candidate from the South-South region.

He said the suspect allegedly published claims about activities that had either not happened or were still being planned, with the intention of influencing voter behaviour and damaging the candidate’s reputation.

“As I am talking to you now, we have somebody in our custody who came up with this kind of information regarding one of the candidates from the South-South part of the country,” Abdullahi said.

He explained that the police investigated the complaint, traced the source of the information and arrested the suspect.

The assistant commissioner warned that individuals found spreading false information capable of undermining the electoral process would be investigated and prosecuted where the necessary legal requirements were established.

He said the police intended to discourage the use of misinformation as a tool for influencing political participation and public opinion.

On the growing threat of artificial intelligence in elections, Abdullahi said the police had acquired cyber solutions designed to detect deepfake videos, manipulated photographs and cloned audio recordings, with claimed accuracy of up to 99 per cent.

He identified AI-generated videos, altered images and voice cloning as potential tools for misleading voters by making candidates, public officials and electoral authorities appear to have made statements they never issued.

He added that the force was conducting digital forensic examinations of audio recordings, videos and photographs circulating on social media to determine whether they had been manipulated.

According to him, the police had also established an election monitoring room and begun intelligence gathering ahead of the 2027 polls.

However, Abdullahi stressed that the police would not target legitimate public discussions or opinions, noting that enforcement actions must be supported by relevant legal provisions.

If the relevant legal elements are not established, we cannot go out and disrupt the peaceful conduct of public opinion.

We cannot do that, he said.

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He urged Nigerians to verify election-related announcements through the Independent National Electoral Commission, particularly information concerning possible changes to the election timetable.