The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the man identified as the originator of an AI-generated voice note that was widely circulated online as a leaked recording of President Bola Tinubu.
Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced the arrest on Thursday evening in a post shared on his official Facebook account.
“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. Dennis was arrested in Benin. The police will issue an official statement,” Onanuga wrote.
The arrest came after a week-long controversy that began on May 27, 2026, when a manipulated video linked to social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), went viral online.
In the clip, an AI-generated voice resembling that of President Tinubu was heard making inflammatory remarks, including claims that insecurity in the South-East was deliberate, that he had pressured Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi to step down ahead of the 2023 elections, and that he was indifferent to the suffering of Nigerians.
The fake audio sparked widespread reactions on social media, with many users initially believing it to be an authentic leaked recording of the President.
However, investigations and fack-checks by multiple media organisations later established that VDM had not posted the doctored audio.
Reports indicated that an unidentified individual had extracted footage from VDM’s original Instagram video and superimposed the AI-generated voice before recirculating the manipulated version online, creating the false impression that the activist had shared or endorsed the content.
The Presidency subsequently dismissed the audio as fake and described it as a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation using artificial intelligence.
Despite reports that the manipulated audio did not originate from VDM, the Presidency initially called for his prosecution.
At the time, Onanuga described the incident as “a clear case of egregious abuse of the social media platform,” a position that attracted criticism after fact-checkers confirmed that VDM’s original video contained none of the fabricated audio.
The controversy also reignited concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence to create realistic deepfake content capable of misleading the public and influencing political discourse.
Further details regarding the circumstances surrounding Dennis’ arrest, the investigation, and the charges he may face were not immediately available as of the time of filing this report and the Presidential media aide said the Police will provide further details on the arrest.
However, as at the time of this report, the NPF was yet to issue any formal statement on the development.
