Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed as “baseless and mischievous” claims in a viral video alleging that the institution is developing a secret nuclear weapon for Nigeria.
In a strongly worded statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs, Auwalu Umar, the university described the video as a deliberate attempt by “unscrupulous elements” to misinform the public and smear the reputation of one of Africa’s foremost research institutions.
The video had falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists at ABU secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in the 1980s and built sophisticated centrifuges obtained from Pakistan’s AQ Khan network, claiming they were close to producing a nuclear device by 1987.
ABU, however, debunked the allegations, stressing that the claims were “scientifically impossible and historically inaccurate.”
“In the 1980s, most of the scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), ABU, were still undergoing training abroad and had not even returned to Nigeria,” the statement read.
“So how could trainee scientists have enriched uranium?”
The university clarified that neither Nigeria nor ABU has ever had any connection with the AQ Khan network or any country involved in nuclear weapons proliferation.
According to the statement, by 1987, the only operational facility at the Centre was a 14 MeV neutron generator, which became active in 1988. The major nuclear project—the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1)—was not initiated until 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and was commissioned in 2004.
Umar noted that all of ABU’s nuclear research has been conducted under strict international supervision and in full compliance with global non-proliferation treaties.
“The 34kW NIRR-1 reactor was acquired through a tripartite agreement between Nigeria, China and the IAEA and initially used highly enriched uranium, which was converted to low-enriched uranium in 2018 under the Global Threat Reduction Initiative,” he explained.
The statement further reaffirmed Nigeria’s long-standing commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, citing the country’s early signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968 and adherence to the Pelindaba Treaty of 2009, which prohibits nuclear weapons development in Africa.
Tracing Nigeria’s nuclear journey, ABU recalled that national interest in atomic research dates back to 1960, when the Federal Government established the Federal Radiation Protection Service at the University of Ibadan to monitor radiation effects following France’s atomic tests in the Sahara.
Umar emphasised that the late Premier of Northern Nigeria and ABU’s founder, Sir Ahmadu Bello, envisioned nuclear science strictly for peaceful purposes, as shown by his 1960 visit to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States before establishing the university in 1962.
“ABU’s Centre for Energy Research and Training was founded to fulfil that vision — harnessing nuclear science for socio-economic development, not for weapons,” Umar stressed.
He urged the public to disregard the “AI-fabricated falsehood” and warned against the spread of disinformation capable of damaging national institutions and international credibility