The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has urged journalists to prioritise verification and restraint in security reporting ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Disu said responsible journalism could help save lives, while misinformation could inflame tensions and undermine public confidence.
He made the call on Wednesday at a one-day capacity-building workshop on “Responsible Security Reporting Ahead of the 2027 Elections”, organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council.
Represented by the Director of the National Cybercrime Centre, AIG Akaninyene Ezimma, the IGP said election security was a shared responsibility between law enforcement agencies and the media.
“The media has the power to shape how Nigerians understand what is happening around them. That power must be exercised with responsibility,” he said.
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Disu warned that false information could spread rapidly through photographs, old videos, fabricated statements, and AI-generated content, creating fear, confusion, and confrontation.
He urged journalists to “Stop! Check! Confirm! Report!” stressing the need to resist the pressure to be first at the expense of being accurate.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, represented by DCP Ibrahim Jibrin, called for thorough verification of information before publication.
Sanusi said the police would remain accessible and responsive to legitimate media enquiries while safeguarding operational integrity.
“Responsible security reporting can calm tension, promote public understanding, and support security operations, while inaccurate, unverified or sensational reporting can unintentionally create fear, panic and distrust,” he said.
In her welcome address, the Chairman of the NUJ FCT Council, Comrade Grace Ike, said the workshop was aimed at balancing the public’s right to information with the responsibility of journalists to avoid harm.
She said the objectives of the training included strengthening the capacity of security correspondents to verify and contextualise information, apply ethical and legal standards under pressure, and engage constructively with security agencies without compromising journalistic independence or the public interest.
Ike identified key priorities for participants, including verifying eyewitness material, contextual reporting, source protection, principled engagement with security agencies, ethical restraint, and digital literacy to identify deepfakes and manipulated media.
“As the NUJ FCT Council, we pledge our support to journalists undertaking this demanding beat,” she said.
“We will continue to advocate for professional safety, access to training, legal protections, and mental-health support for reporters exposed to traumatic scenes.”
She also called on security agencies to engage transparently with the media and respect press freedom while working to protect public safety.
In a goodwill message, retired Commissioner of Police Lawrence Alobi called for expanded digital-literacy campaigns, stronger fact-checking mechanisms, transparent communication and ethical guidelines for citizen journalists covering sensitive security issues.
Resource persons, including former NUJ Chairman Abduljelil Adebayo and Deputy Director of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Busola Ajibola, stressed the need for journalists to distinguish clearly between unofficial claims and official information.
They also urged journalists to label unverified material, avoid sensational headlines that could inflame ethnic or religious tensions, and protect vulnerable sources.
The resource persons called on newsrooms to invest in verification procedures, fact-checking resources and mental-health support for reporters covering traumatic events.
The organisers said the workshop was designed to strengthen cooperation between security agencies and the media by helping journalists identify authoritative sources of information while encouraging the police to build public trust through transparency.
They said the training would also help ensure that media coverage contributes to peaceful democratic participation as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections.
