ABU Breaks Silence On ‘Secret Nuclear Weapons’ Programme

The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, has denied claims circulating on social media that it was involved in a secret nuclear weapons project for Nigeria.

In a statement released on Saturday, the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Malam Auwalu Umar, dismissed the viral AI-generated video as false and misleading. He said it was created to misinform the public and undermine Nigeria’s peaceful use of nuclear energy.

“The video falsely claimed that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna and that ABU researchers obtained centrifugal equipment from the AQ Khan network in Pakistan,” Umar said. “This information is baseless, unfounded, and unsubstantiated.”

He explained that the allegations were historically inaccurate, noting that most scientists from ABU’s Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still studying abroad during the 1980s and had no involvement in uranium enrichment or weapons-related projects.

“ABU has no connection whatsoever with the AQ Khan network and has never received any equipment for the construction of a centrifuge or a nuclear device,” he added.

According to him, the only nuclear-related facility at the university in 1987 was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational the following year.

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 officially commissioned in 2004.

“Nigeria’s nuclear activities have always been open and pursued strictly for peaceful purposes, in line with the country’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibit the development of nuclear weapons,” he reaffirmed.

He stressed that the Centre for Energy Research and Training, created in 1976, works closely with the IAEA and international partners including the United States, Russia, and China. Umar added that the centre “has never engaged 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 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 established.

Reiterating the university’s mission, he stated, “The management restates 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.”
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