June 05, (THEWILL) — Police have arrested a suspect allegedly linked to the creation and circulation of an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated audio clip falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who announced the development on Thursday, identified the suspect as Ifechukwu Dennis. He said operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) crack team carried out the arrest in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
According to Onanuga, the suspect allegedly originated the fake voice recording and circulated it as the authentic voice of President Tinubu.
“The IGP crack team has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis who originated the fake voice and passed it on to his gullible targets as President Tinubu’s voice. Dennis was arrested in Benin. The police will issue an official statement”, Onanuga said.
The arrest comes amid controversy surrounding a manipulated video involving social media personality, VeryDarkMan (VDM), which circulated widely on social media platforms.
According to available information, VDM had on Monday, May 25, 2026, shared a video on his Instagram page in which he appeared seated while playing a clip of fellow social media influencer, King Mitchy, who made comments referencing him and his necklace.
Following the clip, VDM played an earlier video of President Tinubu in which the President spoke about electricity supply and governance, saying Nigerians should not support him for a second term if his administration failed to improve power supply.
Before playing the clip, VDM reportedly said: “You see this next video I want to play, I will now know whether they have cooked your minds, those of you that want to support Bola Tinubu.”
However, another version of the same video later surfaced online with an AI-generated voice allegedly inserted into the footage, creating the impression that VDM had shared remarks purportedly made by the President.
The fabricated audio allegedly contained controversial statements attributed to President Tinubu, including claims regarding attempts to remove him from office, comments relating to future elections, and references to opposition figure, Peter Obi, and insecurity in Nigeria’s Southeast region.
The Presidency has maintained that the audio was manipulated and intended to mislead members of the public.
Earlier on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, Onanuga had reacted after citing an X account that shared the altered content, condemning the dissemination of the material.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law as he is sharing fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of abuse of the social media platform”, he wrote.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had yet to issue an official statement regarding the arrest announced by the Presidency.
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