The presidency has announced the latest development in the controversies surrounding the AI-generated voice note of President Bola Tinubu used in a trending video by social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man (VDM).
Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, disclosed in a statement on Thursday, June 4, that the Inspector General of Police crack team had arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, who originated the fake voice that he passed on to his gullible targets as President Tinubu’s voice.
Recall that Onanuga had earlier called for the prosecution of VDM following the circulation of an audio call of the president allegedly played by the activist in one of his videos. However, the audio has been confirmed to be AI-generated, which was placed in Very Dark Man's video by someone on social media. The person, now identified as Dennis, had added the AI-generated voice note of President Tinubu and edited it with the activist's video. Dennis had picked a VDM video and added the AI-generated audio of President Tinubu to make it look like the activist was pushing the audio.
Reactions from Nigerians
Onanuga's announcement of the new development has started generating reactions from Nigerians. Below are some of their comments:
ArcUchenna questioned why bandits cannot be tracked like Dennis: "Bandits can't be tracked, but citizens can be tracked on the slightest comments? Boko Haram is having a day party and wedding reception, Bandits can host a tournament, even kidnap an entire community, and they can't be tracked. Wicked and shameless government."
David Kingking urged the government to track abducted schoolchildren and teachers: "You people can track him, but when it comes to bandits, your tracking machine will stop working. Get to work, our children are still in the bush. Use the same energy. This is part of those good citizens who refuse to do dirty but dedicated their life to work legitimate and also help the future by becoming teachers. But see how they're treated. You people should use the same energy to track the bandits. Posting about the arrest of a fake voice note is very shameful. When the real situation to show capacity is there, but nothing has been done yet. Zero results yet."
Vhiktri urged the government to rescue the kidnapped children: "You people should use the same speed you used in tracking these unarmed citizens, and track the innocent people kidnapped in the forest too."
Seyifunmioluwatuyi condemned the spreading of fake news: "This comment weakens my bones. We still have a very long way to go in this country."
The presidency has not yet released further details about the arrest or the investigation. The case continues to draw attention to the use of AI-generated content in social media controversies.
