The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the individual accused of creating and circulating an artificial intelligence-generated voice recording falsely portrayed as a leaked audio message from President Bola Tinubu.
The arrest was confirmed on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
According to Onanuga, “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.”
Authorities allege that Dennis used AI technology to mimic President Tinubu’s voice and disseminated the fabricated recording as an authentic leaked message.
The arrest follows a controversy that began on May 27, 2026, after a viral video featuring social media commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), surfaced online.
The altered video contained an AI-generated voice resembling that of President Tinubu, making a series of contentious claims, including allegations that insecurity in the South-East was deliberate, that he had pressured Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2023 presidential election, and that he was indifferent to the economic hardships facing Nigerians.
Subsequent investigations by several media organisations concluded that VeryDarkMan was not responsible for creating or distributing the manipulated audio.
Reports indicated that an unidentified individual had taken footage from the activist’s original Instagram post, overlaid it with the AI-generated recording, and then shared the altered version across social media platforms.
Although investigations later cleared VeryDarkMan of any involvement, the Presidency initially called for legal action against him over the incident.
The arrest of the suspected creator marks a major development in the ongoing efforts to combat the spread of AI-generated misinformation and digital impersonation in Nigeria.
