Egyptian security officials say police have been questioning residents and searching apartments at more than 5,000 homes in central Cairo as a “precautionary measure” to prevent street protests on the upcoming anniversary of the Arab spring uprising on 25 January 2011.

A senior security official told the Associated Press that the 10-day search campaign was based on surveillance and intelligence gathered over months and focusing on pro-democracy activists inside and outside the country, including foreigners.

But some Cairo residents have said the sweeping raids are not targeted, instead designed to round up anyone who fits the youthful demographic of the 2011 protesters.

Journalist Emir Nader was out of the country when his flat was raided on 18 January. “I logged in to my Facebook and found messages from my friends in Cairo asking whether it was my flat that was targeted downtown,” he said. “I scrolled through and discovered friends and activists had reported my flat had been raided by police two hours previously and my three flatmates were arrested.”

Two of Nader’s three flatmates are involved in civil society movements: Dr Taher Mokhtar works to provide medical care for detainees and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan campaigns against Egypt’s compulsory military service. Their apartment is close to Tahrir Square, which was at the heart of the 2011 protests.

“We think the police have been knocking on every door downtown and when a young Egyptian opens they search the flat,” Nader said. “They discovered that Taher, a doctor, is a critic of the government and campaigns for medical treatment for detainees. They decided this was incriminating enough to arrest all three of my flatmates for possessing materials that call for overthrowing the state.”

In a speech in December, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, warned that those calling for protests risked ruining the country and “destroying the people”. Public protest has been all but banned by a law enacted in November 2013 that formed part of the harsh response to the protests that deposed Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

Other Cairo residents have backed up Nader’s theory that the searches are not targeting specific individuals.

Elhady Mahmoud said he was at work on Tuesday when he received a phone call from his housemate telling him their apartment had been searched.

“He said he came back home and found lots of cops at the building, who asked him if he was living there and, if so, on which floor,” Mahmoud said. “They started with his phone, then his laptop, his passport, everything. They looked over everything.

“Then they checked every room. They did this to every apartment in the building, asking about who lives there, what they do, why they’re in the country, their jobs, everything.

“They’re opening people’s Facebook and checking things, asking them why they’re posting stuff. The next day, they went to another building on the same street. I have many friends there.”

Kerim Mounir lives on the same street as Mahmoud, but slept through the knock on his door. He says his doorman told him there were 10 men. “They gave him an order to go with them and knock on doors. He said that 12 apartments were raided. They didn’t enter ours because they thought nobody was there.”

Egyptian security forces have arrested people accused of administering Facebook pages calling for protests on 25 January and have targeted a publishing house and a cultural centre in Cairo.

On 10 January, Dr Ahmed Abdullah of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, which tracks forced disappearances in the country, said in a statement that he had evaded arrest at a cafe he frequents . Four days later, the offices of the news website Misr Al Arabiya were raided. Eight computers were removed and the site’s editor detained overnight.

Despite calls to protest from the now banned Muslim Brotherhood and hardcore Egyptian football fans, organised political opposition is thin on the ground. Many activists and civil society leaders have chosen to leave Cairo, fearing they could be swept up in the raids.

“Nothing will happen, but [the government is] freaking out,” said one former activist, who declined to be named. His friend, who also wished to remain anonymous, agreed: “There is no sign of any buildup like in 2010. Yes, there is a lot of anger, but it’s limited to certain parts. It doesn’t mean the government can just take everyone else.”