NIGERIA: Police Arrest Suspect Over Alleged AI-Generated Voice Impersonation Of Tinubu

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

The Nigeria Police Force has reportedly arrested a suspect identified as Ifechukwu Dennis in connection with the circulation of a fake audio allegedly cloned to sound like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The disclosure was made on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who revealed that the suspect was apprehended by the Inspector-General of Police’s crack investigative team in Benin City, Edo State.

According to Onanuga, Dennis allegedly created the fake voice recording and distributed it to unsuspecting members of the public as though it was the authentic voice of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“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 wrote in a post on social media.

The arrest comes days after controversy erupted over a viral audio recording purportedly featuring President Tinubu making a series of controversial comments on national issues. The audio circulated widely across social media platforms and sparked heated political debates before questions emerged regarding its authenticity.

The Presidency had earlier dismissed the recording as fake and accused those involved in its circulation of spreading misinformation. Presidential aides maintained that the voice recording was artificially generated and did not originate from the President.

Subsequent fact-checks and media investigations indicated that the audio bore signs of AI voice cloning and had been inserted into a separate video, creating the false impression that it was genuine.

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, the nature of the investigation, or any charges that may be filed against the suspect.

The development highlights growing concerns over the use of artificial intelligence tools to create deceptive audio and video content, a trend experts warn could pose significant risks to public trust, political stability, and information integrity.