ABU speaks on allegations of hidden nuclear weapons project

ABU gate

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.