Police arrest man behind AI-generated fake Tinubu voice note

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the individual identified as the originator of an artificial intelligence-generated voice note that was falsely circulated as a leaked recording of President Bola Tinubu.

The arrest was announced on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who stated that a special police team had apprehended the suspect.

The development brings an end to a controversy that began on May 27, 2026, when a manipulated video went viral online. In the clip, an AI-generated voice resembling President Tinubu was heard making inflammatory statements, including claims about insecurity in the South-East and political pressure on opposition figures.

Investigations later confirmed that the altered audio had been superimposed onto an original video posted by social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan. Fact-checkers established that the activist’s original footage contained none of the fabricated audio.

Details regarding the circumstances of Dennis’s arrest and the specific charges he may face have not yet been released by the police at the time of this report.