By Rita Enemuru, Reporting From Uyo
AS preparations gather momentum for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, an international public foundation has trained media professionals and civil society actors in the South-South region on how to tackle information disorder and promote electoral safety.
No fewer than 35 journalists, including Stonix News‘ Rita Enemuru, and civil society representatives participated in a three-day workshop on countering disinformation, fake news, hate speech and electoral violence, held from 23 to 25 February 2026 at Rosmohr Hotels, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Coordinator of FIAP/EPSG, Maria Belen Sanchez presenting a certificate of participation to Stonix News’ Rita Enemuru on Wednesday at Uyo.
The workshop was organised by Fundación para la Internacionalización de las Administraciones Públicas (FIAP), F.S.P., under the EU Support to ECOWAS in Peace, Security and Governance (EPSG) Project.
FIAP is co-implementing Component 3 of the EPSG Project in West Africa in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), with a focus on strengthening electoral processes by preventing electoral violence and countering misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.
The EPSG Project is a multi-donor initiative co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Coordinator of FIAP/EPSG, Maria Belen Sanchez
Speaking during the training, the Coordinator of FIAP/EPSG, Maria Belen Sanchez, said the overall objective of the EPSG Project is to enhance peace, security and governance across the ECOWAS region.
According to her, the programme aimed to raise awareness on how to combat information disorder ahead of Nigeria’s forthcoming elections.
She noted that while challenges within electoral processes cannot be resolved overnight, participants must make steady, consistent and deliberate efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation using all available resources.
Coordinator of FIAP/EPSG, Maria Belen Sanchez
She said: “The training addressed the challenges posed by the rapid spread of false narratives and inflammatory messaging, particularly through social media, online news platforms, and radio, which have historically contributed to voter suppression, identity-based tensions, and outbreaks of electoral violence in Nigeria.
“The workshop is aimed to equip participants with the skills to identify, analyze, and counter disinformation, fake news, and hate speech related to elections.
“This workshop is part of broader efforts under the EPSG Project to support credible information, reduce the risk of electoral violence, and strengthen democratic governance in West Africa.
The participants
“The training is also aimed at strengthen ethical, conflict-sensitive, and peace-oriented reporting practices among media professionals and CSOs.
“Additionally, the programme aims to promote responsible use of digital tools and platforms to prevent the spread of disinformation and hate speech and to enable participants to develop campaigns that they can lead within their communities and states.
“Media professionals and CSOs are therefore, urged to apply practical skills from the training to strengthen ongoing initiatives that promote peaceful, inclusive, and democratic electoral participation.”
Participants at the workshop
On the first day of the training, fact-check expert and Manager at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Lois Ugbede, introduced participants to the concept of information disorder and hate speech during election periods.
During her session, she displayed examples of misinformation and disinformation posts that circulated across various social media platforms and explained how such content incited cyberbullying and hate speech against political candidates during the 2023 elections.
She also introduced participants to fact-checking tools such as InVid, Forensically, WeVerify and Deepware, demonstrating how they can be used to detect manipulated or distorted videos, audio recordings and images.
On the second day, Assistant Editor at CJID, Silas Jonathan, took participants through the psychological and visual techniques used by disinformation actors to create chaos and tension during election periods.
Participants at the workshop
Using visual, data and pictorial evidence, he demonstrated how social media users on X, Facebook and other platforms create multiple accounts and pages to spread misinformation and malinformation, pushing false narratives and hate speech during elections.
He emphasised the importance of understanding these strategies so that journalists and civil society actors can effectively counter falsehoods during the forthcoming elections. He urged journalists and CSOs to act as drivers of peace during conflicts by choosing accuracy over speed in their reporting.
Participants were later divided into groups and assigned practical tasks to design a campaign discouraging voter apathy and a counter-campaign encouraging citizens to vote. They presented their ideas through visual and text-based presentations.
He concluded by introducing participants to additional media monitoring tools, including Webmii, X Network, TweetBinder and Julius AI, which can be used to track and analyse narratives online.
Participants at the workshop
On the third and final day, the Head of Policy Research and Communication at Dataphyte Foundation, Adijat Kareem, enlightened participants on data security and measures to protect their websites and digital platforms.
As part of their civic responsibility towards promoting peaceful electoral processes, participants designed and implemented a #CheckBeforeYouPost campaign.
The workshop ended with the formal launch of the #CheckBeforeYouPost campaign, which participants are expected to take back to their respective communities and states to raise awareness about information disorder and encourage Nigerians to verify content before sharing it on social media.
Expressing appreciation for the opportunity to acquire fact-checking and digital security skills, the Executive Director of Amaclare Connect and Development Initiative, Loretta Ahuokpeme, told Stonix News:
“This workshop is an eye opener because when it comes to election and electoral issues, a lot of misinformation and disinformation comes up all the time. Election period is a very dangerous and dicey period that everybody is tensed up and any little spark could cause chaos and dome people will deliberately come out to misinform people. So little triggers can cause a lot of mayhem.
Female participants at the workshop
“This training has given us insight of how we can check some of these deep fakes and be sure that what you want to repost and pass out is real, correct accurate and evidence based.”
Similarly, a representative of Community Partners for Development in Akwa Ibom State, Umoh Udoh, said: “I am actually happy this programme came up because it has enlightened me a lot on fact-checking and how to verify certain kind of information before sharing it.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Gbolekekro Women Empowerment and Development Organisation (GWEDO) in Edo State, Comrade Cynthia Buluebiere, said:
“This training is an eyeopener because most times, we see post and without verifying them, we just repost without understanding the implications. With this training however, it has dawned in me that it is not every post that should get reposted. I must verify it with substantial tools like the Google Reverse Search Image, InVid and others to be sure that those stories are true instead of posting misinformation and disinformation.
“This training has armed be with this knowledge and the task of going back to my people and sensitizing them about the dangers of reposting without verifying. “CSO’s should take proactive steps about doing what is right.”
A Senior Reporter with Premium Times in Akwa Ibom, Ekemini Simon, said:
“I’m a senior reporter with Premium Times in Akwa Ibom. This workshop is coming at a time that the country is preparing for elections.
“We are going to expect some levels of false stories, fake news and this workshop has trained us how to counter disinformation and misinformation.
Participants at the workshop
“We have been exposed to various tools that we can use to achieve this. I knew some of these tools but not how to use them and the workshop gave me the practical knowledge of that.
“We have been exposed to how to effectively use these tools to counter disinformation and misinformation. I am determined to use it in my work as an investigative journalist.”
Participants at the workshop
In the same vein, the Publisher of Amazon Africa National Point Newspaper, Chief Constance Meju, said:
“This workshop is a very vital workshop because journalism is about facts. Journalists must always verify their facts before the share media content and before they publish.
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“The training helped us with the knowledge and self-consciousness of taking a double check at all content we come across.
“We need to be more careful and more sensitive because we do not want crisis especially as election is fast approaching.”
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