AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY DENIES ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT. (PHOTO).

 Ahmadu Bello University Denies Alleged Involvement In Nuclear Weapons Development

The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, has refuted claims circulating in a viral video that the institution was involved in developing nuclear weapons for Nigeria.

In a statement issued by the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Malam Auwalu Umar, ABU described the AI-generated video as misleading and intended to spread false information about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.

Umar explained that the video falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna, with ABU researchers reportedly obtaining centrifuge equipment from the AQ Khan network in Pakistan.

He dismissed the claims as “baseless, unfounded, and unsubstantiated,” noting that most ABU scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still undergoing training abroad during the 1980s and could not have been involved in uranium enrichment.

According to him, ABU has never had any link with the AQ Khan network and did not receive any equipment related to centrifuge or nuclear device development. He added that by 1987, the only nuclear facility at the university was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational in 1988.

Umar further clarified that Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor, known as NIRR-1, was established in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and was commissioned in 2004.

He emphasized that Nigeria’s nuclear research has always been transparent and focused exclusively on peaceful applications, in accordance with the country’s commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, which both prohibit the development of nuclear weapons.

“The Centre for Energy Research and Training, founded in 1976, operates in collaboration with the IAEA and other international partners from the United States, Russia, and China,” he said.

Umar stressed that the centre has never engaged in any secret weapons project, reaffirming ABU’s dedication to using nuclear science solely for peaceful and developmental purposes.

He 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’s establishment.

“The university remains committed to advancing science and technology for the benefit of humanity while upholding Nigeria’s international obligations on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the statement concluded.