Nigeria Police Force has arrested a suspect allegedly linked to the creation and circulation of an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated voice recording falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
The arrest was disclosed on Thursday by the Presidential Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his official X account.
According to Onanuga, the suspect, identified as Ifechukwu Dennis, was apprehended in Benin, Edo State, by a special police team.
“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 stated.
The arrest follows controversy surrounding an audio recording that circulated widely on social media in late May.
The recording, generated using artificial intelligence technology, allegedly mimicked the voice of President Tinubu and contained a series of controversial remarks on national issues and political developments.
The manipulated audio gained attention after it was attached to a video featuring social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).
However, investigations by several media organisations reportedly indicated that the activist did not publish the altered audio.
Findings suggested that an unidentified individual extracted footage from Otse’s original Instagram video and superimposed the AI-generated voice recording before distributing the edited version online.
The incident has renewed concerns over the growing use of artificial intelligence tools to create deceptive content, including voice cloning and digitally manipulated media capable of misleading the public.
Security and technology experts have repeatedly warned about the risks posed by deepfakes and other forms of synthetic media, particularly in political communication and public discourse.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had yet to release an official statement detailing the circumstances surrounding the arrest or the ongoing investigation.
