Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed claims that it was involved in developing a secret nuclear weapon for Nigeria.
The university made the clarification in a statement issued on Saturday by the Director of its Public Affairs Directorate, Malam Auwalu Umar, who described the circulating video making the allegation as AI-generated misinformation.
According to Umar, the video falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna and that ABU researchers procured centrifugal equipment from Pakistan’s AQ Khan network.
He said the claims were entirely baseless and aimed at misleading the public about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.
Umar explained that scientists at ABU’s Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still undergoing training abroad during the 1980s and could not have been involved in any uranium enrichment activity.
“Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor (NIRR-1) was established much later in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and commissioned in 2004,” he said.
The university reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and adherence to international standards in all research activities.