Social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has rejected calls for his prosecution over an AI-generated fake audio of President Bola Tinubu, insisting he did not create or share the clip.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had on Wednesday urged authorities to prosecute VeryDarkMan for disseminating the fake audio.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform,” Onanuga said on X.
However, investigations showed the controversial clip was doctored by an unknown individual who took footage from VeryDarkMan’s original Instagram video and inserted an AI-generated voice mimicking the president.
Reacting sharply, VeryDarkMan said he would not defend the fake audio and turned the heat on the presidential aide.
He challenged the presidency to prioritise the rescue of schoolchildren and teachers abducted by bandits in Oyo State rather than pursue what he described as trivial matters.
“Now you can talk. Bandits went into a school in Oyo State, they carried three teachers, one man, two women, they carried students. One of the teachers was backing an infant child. Few days later, there was a report that one of the teachers was beheaded. Bayo Onanuga, where is your comment on that?” he asked.
“As I speak to you today, it is Children’s Day. Those children are still in an unknown location. I want to see wetin una wan do,” VeryDarkMan added.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of social media content and deepfake technology in Nigeria.
