Police Arrest Man Behind AI-Generated Fake Tinubu Voice Note After Viral Controversy

Abuja, Nigeria– The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the man accused of creating and circulating an artificial intelligence-generated voice recording falsely presented as a leaked conversation involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The development was disclosed on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

According to Onanuga, the suspect was apprehended by a special police team in Benin City, Edo State.

“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 wrote.

He added that the Nigeria Police Force would issue an official statement providing further details on the arrest and ongoing investigation.

The arrest comes weeks after a viral social media controversy triggered by the circulation of a manipulated video featuring social media commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).

The altered clip contained an AI-generated voice closely resembling that of President Tinubu. In the recording, the voice made several inflammatory claims, including allegations that insecurity in Nigeria’s South-East region was deliberate, that Tinubu pressured Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2023 election, and that he was indifferent to the economic hardships facing Nigerians.

The audio sparked widespread reactions online, with many social media users initially believing it to be authentic.

However, subsequent investigations by multiple media organisations established that VeryDarkMan was not responsible for creating or distributing the fabricated recording.

Findings showed that an unidentified individual had extracted footage from the activist’s original Instagram video, superimposed the AI-generated audio onto it, and then redistributed the manipulated version across various social media platforms.

Despite reports clearing VeryDarkMan of involvement, the Presidency had earlier pushed for legal action against the activist, describing the incident as a serious misuse of social media.

At the height of the controversy, Onanuga condemned the circulation of the video, calling it “a clear case of egregious abuse of the social media platform.”

The Presidency’s position attracted criticism after independent fact-checkers and media investigations confirmed that the original video posted by VeryDarkMan did not contain the controversial audio.