By Monday Ijeh

The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Olatunji Disu, has pledged to partner with the Crime Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CCAN) to ensure prompt and reliable information dissemination ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Disu made the pledge on Wednesday in Abuja at the association’s annual conference and awards ceremony, themed “Navigating Security Challenges in the 2027 General Election: The Role of the Media in Combating Fake News”.

He said the police would establish a clear channel for verification and requests from accredited members of the association to ensure prompt, accurate and reliable confirmation of facts.

Disu said a free and responsible press was indispensable to credible elections and societal safety, adding that the media served as a bridge between security agencies and the public.

According to him, when journalists verify information before publication, they protect people from needless harm, while holding security agencies accountable fairly and factually improve their performance.

“When you decline to amplify unverified and sensational information, you may prevent a crisis that no one will ever know had been averted.

“I want to say something that will sound unusual coming from me; we need you, not to praise us, because you are not our publicists, but to tell the truth about us accurately and fairly.

“The issue we are talking about is deliberate manipulation of facts to bring up issues that never happened,” he said.

He said that as the country approached the 2027 elections, falsehoods could be used to discourage voters, cast doubt on the credibility of the process and create grounds for rejecting results before the polls.

He urged the association to practise responsible election security reporting, emphasising that security incident should only be reported as confirmed after verification.

“Refuse to amplify a video that cannot be traced to a credible origin and give our officers this space to respond before a story will go viral that will make response impossible.

“These are not restrictions on your freedom, but the basics of your craft applied to the most sensitive moment in our national life,” he said.

He said the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre had been mandated to monitor online platforms for false and inciting content.

Disu said the force had extended the centre’s activities to Criminal Investigation Departments nationwide.

“Through digital forensics, we have identified and arrested individuals behind fabricated notices and videos.

“Let me be clear, we apply this power sparingly and only where public safety is genuinely at risk, not to silence criticism or dissent,” he said.(NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru