Police arrest suspect behind AI-generated Tinubu voice note

The police have arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the suspect accused of creating a viral artificial intelligence (AI)-generated voice note falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, disclosed the arrest in a post on X on Thursday, noting that Dennis was apprehended in Benin City, Edo State, by a special team from the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

“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,” Onanuga wrote.

“Dennis was arrested in Benin. The police will issue an official statement.”

The arrest follows the circulation of a controversial audio recording generated using AI technology and designed to mimic the voice of President Tinubu. The clip, which spread widely on social media, contained several inflammatory claims.

Among them were allegations that insecurity in the South-East was deliberate, that Tinubu pressured Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, to step down before the general election, and that he was indifferent to the economic hardship faced by Nigerians.

“I’ve begged Peter Obi to step down for me. He refused. Now I will make sure the insecurity affects only South East,” the voice note claimed.

The audio gained further traction after it was featured in a video posted on May 27 by social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).

Reacting to the development at the time, Onanuga called for the activist’s arrest, accusing him of spreading false information.

“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu,” he said.

“This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform.”

As of the time of filing this report, the police have yet to issue an official statement detailing the charges that may be brought against the suspect.