Nigerian university speaks on alleged nuclear weapons link

One of the major universities in Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has debunked a viral social media video accusing the institution of running a covert nuclear weapons programme for Nigeria.

In a statement released in Zaria on Saturday, the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Malam Auwalu Umar, described the allegation as “entirely false and misleading,” stressing that the video was AI-generated and intended to misinform the public about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear research efforts.

According to Umar, the online clip falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna, and that ABU researchers obtained centrifuge technology from Pakistan’s AQ Khan network.

He dismissed the claims as “baseless, unfounded and unsubstantiated,” noting that most of the scientists at ABU’s Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still studying abroad during that period and therefore could not have been involved in uranium enrichment.

Umar emphasized that the university had never had any connection with the AQ Khan network, nor had it received equipment for constructing a centrifuge or nuclear device.

He explained that by 1987, ABU’s only nuclear facility was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational the following year.

“Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor (NIRR-1) was established much later in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and commissioned in 2004,” Umar said.

He reiterated that all of Nigeria’s nuclear activities are transparent and conducted strictly for peaceful purposes in line with the country’s commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibit the development of nuclear weapons.

Reaffirming ABU’s long-standing cooperation with international partners, Umar stated: “The Centre for Energy Research and Training, established in 1976, operates in collaboration with the IAEA and international partners from the U.S., Russia, and China.”

He added that the centre has never participated in any secret weapons programme.

“ABU has always pursued peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology for national development,” he said.

Umar also recalled that the university’s founder, Sir Ahmadu Bello, showed early interest in peaceful atomic research after visiting the Museum of Atomic Energy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States in 1960 — two years before ABU was founded.

“The management, therefore, restated its commitment to advancing science and technology for the benefit of humanity and to upholding Nigeria’s international obligations on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Umar added.