By Abigail David
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the alleged creator of an artificial intelligence-generated voice recording falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
The arrest was announced on Thursday by Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his X account.
According to Onanuga, Dennis was apprehended by a special police team investigating the circulation of the fabricated audio clip.
“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.
The development follows a controversy that erupted on May 27, 2026, after a manipulated video featuring social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, circulated widely online.
The altered clip contained an AI-generated voice resembling that of President Tinubu, making several controversial claims, including allegations about insecurity in the South-East, the 2023 presidential election, and the administration’s response to citizens’ hardships.
Subsequent investigations by media organisations reportedly found that VeryDarkMan did not publish the doctored audio. Reports indicated that an unidentified individual extracted footage from his original Instagram video and overlaid it with the AI-generated voice before sharing the manipulated content online.
Despite the findings, the Presidency initially called for the prosecution of the activist, describing the incident as a serious misuse of social media platforms.
Details surrounding Dennis’s arrest, including possible charges, had not been disclosed as of the time of filing this report.
