Police say they raided phone farms and arrested a suspect over election disinformation
A police representative also said new cyber tools can detect deepfakes and cloned voices with up to 99 per cent accuracy.
The Nigeria Police Force says it has raided what it calls phone farms allegedly used to manipulate online conversations ahead of the 2027 general elections, and has arrested a suspect accused of spreading false information about a political candidate.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdullahi, who represented the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, gave the details on Wednesday at a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, themed "AI Misinformation and Nigeria's 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote".
He explained that a phone farm is a facility where hundreds of phones and automated accounts are used to make it look as if many people are discussing or promoting the same issue online. "Meanwhile, it is just an individual behind hundreds of phones, arranged in what they call a phone farm, so that they can manipulate the system. The police were able to disrupt this," he said. He said the facilities were found while the police investigated reported attempts by some individuals to tamper with the elections, followed by targeted raids.
He added that a suspect is in custody over information about a candidate from the South-South region. The suspect allegedly spread misleading reports about activities that had not taken place, in order to influence how voters behave and to discredit the candidate.
Abdullahi warned that the police would arrest and prosecute anyone found spreading false information capable of undermining the electoral process. He listed three steps: sending the message that arrests will be made, carrying out investigations, and ensuring prosecution.
On artificial intelligence, he said the police have recently acquired cybersecurity tools that can detect deepfake videos, voice cloning and other AI-generated manipulation with up to 99 per cent accuracy. He said such content can falsely show candidates, officials and electoral authorities saying things they never said, and that voice cloning could be used to circulate false announcements, endorsements, threats and inflammatory messages.
He cited allegedly manipulated photographs of a political rally in a southern state: one showed an empty stadium, while another showed a crowd of about 50,000 in a stadium that holds roughly 30,000. He said such content can distort public perception and provoke political disagreement or security problems if shared without verification.
Abdullahi said attribution and verification are key responsibilities of the Police Cybercrime Centre, and that the force is ready to protect citizens' rights to take part freely in the electoral process and to provide a level playing field without intimidation or manipulation.
SOURCE: Punch
