As 2027 campaigns begin, Katsina police target ‘digital thuggery’, violence

The Katsina State Police Command says it is focusing attention on political violence and what it describes as “digital thuggery” as campaigns for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections get underway.

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The command announced the move during a youth engagement in Katsina on Thursday as part of activities marking the 2026 International Youth Day.

The announcement came as political activities intensify under the revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general elections released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement, the police spokesperson in Katsina, Abubakar Aliyu, said the command was concentrating on two emerging concerns, which it identified as political and digital thuggery.

The Commissioner of Police, Ali Fage, was represented at the event by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Finance and Administration, Aminu Gusau.

Mr Gusau said young people had an important role to play in maintaining peace as the country moved deeper into the election season.

“The general election is an opportunity to express democratic choice, not an arena for conflict,” he said.

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He said the aspirations of young people in the state for jobs, security, technological development and social infrastructure could only be achieved in a secure environment.

The police said discussions at the event also covered electoral offences, hate speech, false information, cyberbullying and the recruitment of young people for violence.

Representatives of student groups, the National Youth Council of Nigeria, the National Youth Service Corps, civil society organisations, religious and traditional institutions and other youth groups attended the engagement, according to the command.

‘Digital thuggery’ campaign

The expression “digital thuggery” is part of a wider campaign recently introduced by the Nigeria Police Force and is not peculiar to the Katsina command.

On 9 August, Force Headquarters announced two nationwide youth-oriented campaigns as part of activities marking International Youth Day.

One of them, tagged “My Future Is Greater Than Political and Digital Thuggery,” is aimed at discouraging political violence, electoral thuggery and what the police described as digital manipulation.

The second, “Think Before You Click. Verify Before You Share,” focuses on misinformation, disinformation, cyberbullying and the misuse of emerging technologies, according to the Nigeria Police Force announcement.

The national police statement, however, did not provide a specific legal definition of “digital thuggery” or identify particular offences under Nigerian law covered by the expression.

The Katsina command’s statement also did not specify the threshold at which online political conduct would be regarded as digital thuggery, or how such conduct would be distinguished from lawful political criticism, campaigning, satire or other forms of expression.

It did not state whether the initiative involved any new enforcement mechanism or whether suspected offences would be dealt with under existing criminal, cybercrime and electoral laws.

The issue comes against an existing anti-thuggery campaign in Katsina.

In April, Governor Dikko Radda signed the Miscreant Activities (Suppression) Order, 2026, following what the state government described as rising cases of gang violence, street thuggery and public disorder.

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The order established the Katsina State Kauraye and Thuggery Suppression Task Force, comprising the police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Katsina Community Watch Corps and other state institutions.

The task force was mandated to identify and dismantle suspected gangs, conduct surveillance and intelligence-led operations, arrest suspects and facilitate their prosecution.

The government’s announcement of the order focused on street and gang-related activities and did not refer to “digital thuggery.”

Meanwhile, the Katsina police command said it had established a Police-Youth Dialogue through which young people would engage the leadership of the command on security, public trust, crime prevention, responsible citizenship and police-youth relations.

Participants at Thursday’s meeting pledged to promote responsible use of social media, voter education and peaceful participation in the elections, the command said.

The three-day programme also included a walkathon scheduled for Friday morning and a panel discussion between young people and the police commissioner scheduled for Saturday at the Police Officers’ Mess on Kangiwa Road, GRA, Katsina.

The command urged young people to verify information before sharing it online and to report attempts to recruit them for unlawful activities.