Police uncover ‘phone farms,’ arrest suspect over election misinformation

File Photo: Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu.

The Nigeria Police Force has uncovered and raided facilities known as phone farms allegedly used to manipulate online conversations ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The police also arrested a suspect accused of spreading false information about a political candidate from the Southern region to influence voter behaviour and discredit the candidate.

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

Abdullahi, who represented the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, explained that phone farms were facilities where hundreds of mobile phones and automated accounts were deployed to create the impression that large numbers of people were promoting or discussing particular issues online.

He said the police discovered the facilities while investigating alleged coordinated attempts by some individuals to manipulate the electoral process.

“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.

Explaining how the facilities operate, Abdullahi said individuals used multiple phones and bots to spread information simultaneously and manipulate public perception.

“They call it phone farms, where you have bots arranged to manipulate and spread information simultaneously, making you believe that a whole lot of people are talking about the same subject.

“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 added.

The ACP also disclosed that the police had arrested a suspect accused of circulating false information about a candidate from the South-South region.

He said the suspect allegedly spread misleading reports about activities that had not taken place to influence voter behaviour and disparage the candidate.

“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, carrying information regarding things that were not done or that were in the pipeline and said that they were not done, just to predict voter behaviour, and then make them behave in a manner that is negatively targeted to disparage these candidates,” Abdullahi said.

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

Abdullahi warned that the force would arrest and prosecute individuals found spreading false information capable of undermining the electoral process.

“What we are doing now is, first of all, to send the message that the police are ready to arrest any person found spreading false information.

“Two, we are going to carry out investigations. Three, we will ensure that such a person is prosecuted. This is a message for people not to even contemplate doing that kind of behaviour,” he said.

On the growing use of artificial intelligence to manipulate electoral information, Abdullahi said the police had acquired cyber solutions capable of detecting deepfake videos, manipulated photographs and cloned audio recordings with up to 99 per cent accuracy.

He identified AI-generated videos, photographs and voice cloning as potential threats to the 2027 elections, warning that they could make candidates, public officials and electoral authorities appear to have made statements they never uttered.

According to him, the police are also conducting digital forensic examinations of audio recordings, videos and photographs circulating on social media as part of efforts to identify manipulated content.

He added that the force had established an election monitoring room and commenced intelligence gathering ahead of the polls.

Abdullahi, however, stressed that the police would not interfere with legitimate public opinion, noting that investigations and enforcement would be guided by established 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.

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