The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has debunked viral social media claims suggesting that the institution is secretly developing nuclear weapons for Nigeria, describing the report as baseless, misleading, and generated by artificial intelligence.
The Director of the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) at ABU, Prof. Umar Garba, in a statement on Saturday, said the video alleging that the university was involved in uranium enrichment and clandestine nuclear weapon projects in the 1980s was a fabrication aimed at discrediting Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear programme.
According to Garba, the viral clip falsely claimed that Nigerian scientists secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna and procured centrifuge equipment from the infamous AQ Khan network in Pakistan.
> “These claims are entirely false. By the 1980s, most of our scientists were still undergoing nuclear science training abroad and could not have participated in any uranium enrichment activity,” he said.
The professor clarified that ABU had never been involved in uranium enrichment or had any connection with the AQ Khan network, stressing that no equipment related to nuclear weapon development has ever been received or installed at the institution.
> “The only nuclear-related facility at the university by 1987 was a 14 MeV neutron generator, which became operational in 1988,” he explained.
“Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor, the NIRR-1, was established in 1996 through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and commissioned in 2004.”
Garba reaffirmed that all of Nigeria’s nuclear activities remain transparent and strictly geared toward peaceful purposes, in line with international treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, both of which prohibit the development or stockpiling of nuclear weapons.
“ABU operates under the supervision and collaboration of the IAEA and partners from the United States, Russia, and China,” he noted.
“The university’s founder, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, showed early interest in peaceful atomic research after visiting the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States in 1960 — two years before the university’s establishment.”
The management reaffirmed its commitment to advancing scientific research for peaceful and developmental purposes, emphasizing that ABU’s Centre for Energy Research and Training has never engaged in any secret military programme.
“Our focus has always been on using nuclear science for education, health, agriculture, and industrial applications that contribute to Nigeria’s development,” Garba added.
The university urged the public to disregard the viral video and be cautious about consuming unverified content circulated online, particularly AI-generated misinformation that could threaten national reputation and public trust in Nigerian institutions.
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