ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Nigeria Police Force has arrested an alleged creator of a fake artificial intelligence-generated audio clip that falsely portrayed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as making a series of controversial remarks.
The arrest was disclosed on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X.
According to Onanuga, the suspect, identified as Ifechukwu Dennis, was apprehended by a special police team after allegedly originating and distributing the manipulated recording.
“The IGP crack team has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis who originated the fake voice that he passed on to his gullible targets as President Tinubu’s voice,” Onanuga stated.
He further revealed that the suspect was arrested in Benin City and indicated that the police would issue a formal statement detailing the circumstances surrounding the case.
The arrest represents a major breakthrough in a controversy that began on May 27, 2026, when a viral video surfaced online featuring social media commentator Martins Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).
The altered video contained an AI-generated voice that closely resembled President Tinubu’s voice and included several contentious claims.
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Among them were allegations that insecurity in Nigeria’s South-East was deliberate, that the President had pressured Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2023 presidential election, and that he was unconcerned about the economic difficulties facing Nigerians.
However, investigations conducted by multiple media organisations later established that VeryDarkMan did not create or publish the fabricated audio recording.
Reports showed that an unidentified individual had taken footage from VeryDarkMan’s original Instagram video, superimposed the AI-generated voice track onto it, and then circulated the manipulated content across various social media platforms.
Despite findings that cleared the activist of any involvement in the creation of the fake audio, the Presidency initially pushed for legal action against him over the incident.
At the time, Onanuga described the episode as “a clear case of egregious abuse of the social media platform,” a position that drew criticism after fact-checkers confirmed that the original video posted by VeryDarkMan did not contain the fabricated voice recording.
The case has renewed concerns about the growing misuse of artificial intelligence technology to create deceptive content capable of misleading the public and influencing political discourse.