By Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Nigeria Police have arrested a man accused of creating and circulating an artificial intelligence-generated voice recording falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu, bringing to a close days of controversy surrounding the viral audio clip.
The suspect, identified as Ifechukwu Dennis, was apprehended in Benin City by a special police team, according to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Announcing the development on Thursday, Onanuga said, “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.”
The presidential aide also disclosed that another individual had been arrested over a separate social media post that allegedly caused public anxiety about security in Abuja.
“The police have also arrested this Nigerian who made an alarming post about Abuja’s security, spreading fear among citizens. By arresting him, the police have sent the clear message that reckless users of the social media won’t go Scot free,” he stated.
The arrest follows the circulation of a manipulated video that surfaced online on May 27, 2026.
The clip featured an AI-generated voice closely resembling that of President Tinubu making controversial remarks on insecurity in the South-East, the 2023 presidential election and the economic hardship faced by Nigerians.
The altered recording was widely shared on social media and was initially linked to social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
Subsequent investigations by several media organisations, however, found that the activist did not publish the fabricated audio.
Instead, an unidentified individual had reportedly extracted footage from an original Instagram video posted by VeryDarkMan and inserted the AI-generated voice before redistributing the manipulated version online.
The controversy sparked widespread debate, particularly after fact-checkers established that the original video contained none of the statements attributed to the President.
Although the Presidency had earlier called for the prosecution of those behind the clip, authorities have now identified Dennis as the alleged source of the synthetic audio recording.
As of the time of filing this report, the police had yet to release details of the charges that may be brought against the suspect or provide further information on the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
