For allegedly using deepfake AI-generated video material to impersonate President John Dramani Mahama, the Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team (CVET) of the Ghana Police Service, headed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGPs), has detained 11 people, including Nigerians.
According to police sources speaking to Myjoyonline.com, CVET carried out coordinated cyber operations at Sogakope, Dabala, Tongu, Akatsi, and Aflao in the Volta Region between May 1 and 3, 2026, which resulted in the arrest of Raphael Ablordeppey, 32, Anipah Jonathan, 23, Dzamesi Bright Kofi, 35, Thomas Ayoyo, 17, and Louis Segbawu, 18, following intelligence on a group of individuals allegedly involved in the creation and online circulation of AI-generated video contents impersonating President Mahama.
Then, on May 4, 2026, further cyber field tracking operations resulted in the arrest of six more people in Aflao, five of whom were Nigerians and one of whom was Ghanaian, who were involved in similar online fraud schemes.
The five suspects are Bishop Esiri, 46; Wisdom James, 25; Ali Lucky, 23; Edwin Edos, 22; and John Kofi Darlington, 20. Among the second group, suspect Danu Peter, 19, is the Ghanaian.
The team recovered a number of items, such a Nigerian-registered ML 350 Mercedes-Benz with the registration number Lagos LSR 138HR, laptop computers, mobile phones, internet routers, and 120 pre-registered SIM cards.
Preliminary investigations, according to the police, point to the suspects’ use of the fake AI-generated material to deceive innocent members of the public into giving them money and private personal information via internet platforms.
The suspects are also shown to be a component of a bigger network that produces and spreads fake digital material intended to mimic well-known people for financial gain.
On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, nine of the eleven suspects were sent to police custody in court to return on May 25, 2026, while two of them—Thomas Ayoyo and Louis Segbawu—were given bail on the condition that they provide two sureties.
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