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Nigerian authorities have arrested at least eight people in recent weeks for spreading false information online, with the government vowing tougher penalties in response to a surge of misinformation linked to a mass school kidnapping and the approach of general elections.
A month after gunmen abducted at least 46 pupils and staff from three schools in Oyo state, false claims about the incident have proliferated on social media. One viral post falsely claimed an abducted student had been killed.
“The command has responded to not less than 15 misleading publications,” Oyo police spokesman Olushola Alayande told AFP.
“A recurring pattern involves the circulation of sensational claims, recycled videos from unrelated incidents and speculative narratives presented as facts.”
The abductions on May 15 shocked Nigeria’s usually peaceful southwest, a region long considered safe from the mass kidnappings by jihadists and bandit gangs that have plagued the north for years. The army described the raid as a jihadist attack.
In Lagos, a 24-year-old motorcyclist was beaten to death by a mob after a false rumour spread that bandits were invading the city. Fifteen people have been arrested over the killing.
President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking a second term in January’s election, has been targeted by fabricated content.
A viral audio clip this month appeared to show him threatening to worsen insecurity in the southeast unless opposition figure Peter Obi, a major challenger in the 2027 race, withdrew from the poll.
Security agencies later identified the clip as AI-generated. Police arrested a suspect linked to the post on June 4.
The military also debunked an AI-generated video posted on Facebook that purported to show defence chief Olufemi Oluyede admitting he had run out of ideas to tackle insecurity.
Most arrests have been made under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, which criminalises sharing false information on social media and prescribes a three-year jail term or a fine of seven million naira ($5,000).
Experts have raised concerns that relying on arrests to address misinformation could affect free speech rights.
“In many cases, people share false information because they genuinely believe the information is accurate or because it reinforces their existing beliefs and biases,” Olasupo Abideen of Fact Check Africa told AFP.
Amnesty International Nigeria in April warned of “attacks on journalists through the manipulation of the Cybercrimes Act.”
Abideen said enforcement measures should be complemented with public awareness campaigns and fact-checking initiatives.
“An informed and media-literate public remains one of the strongest defences against misinformation; far more effective in the long run than the fear of arrest alone,” he said.
