Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed social media claims alleging that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons in Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the viral video circulating online had accused the university of running a covert nuclear weapons project in Kaduna and collaborating with Pakistan’s AQ Khan network to acquire uranium-enriching equipment.
In a statement on Saturday, the Director of the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Professor S. B. Umar, described the claims as false, misleading, and artificially generated content aimed at spreading misinformation about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear programme.
Professor Umar explained that during the 1980s — the period mentioned in the video — most Nigerian nuclear scientists were still undergoing training abroad and could not have been involved in any uranium enrichment process.
He also clarified that ABU never had any link with the AQ Khan network and did not receive any centrifuge or weapon-grade equipment.
He further noted that the university’s first and only nuclear equipment at that time was a 14 MeV neutron generator, which became functional in 1988. Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor, NIRR-1, was later established in 1996 under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and officially commissioned in 2004.
According to Umar, Nigeria’s nuclear activities have always been transparent and carried out strictly for peaceful purposes under international treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, both of which ban the development of nuclear weapons.
He said, “The Centre for Energy Research and Training has never engaged in any secret weapons programme. ABU’s focus remains on using nuclear science and technology for peaceful research and national development.”
He also recalled that ABU’s founder, Sir Ahmadu Bello, showed early interest in atomic research for peaceful use after visiting the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Museum of Atomic Energy in the United States in 1960 — two years before the university was founded.
The university management reaffirmed its dedication to promoting scientific innovation for human progress and maintaining Nigeria’s international commitment to the safe and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
