- ABU Dismisses Nuclear Weapon Development Allegation
- Umar said the video falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna
- Clarified that most scientists at the CERT were still undergoing training abroad
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has firmly denied claims circulating online that it was involved in developing nuclear weapons for Nigeria.
Eko Hot Blog reports that in a statement issued on Saturday by the Director of Public Affairs, Malam Auwalu Umar, the institution dismissed the viral video making the allegations as AI-generated misinformation intended to distort facts about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.
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According to Umar, the video falsely alleged that Nigerian scientists secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna during the 1980s, and that ABU researchers had obtained centrifuge technology from the A.Q. Khan network in Pakistan, a claim he described as “baseless, unfounded, and entirely unsubstantiated.”
He clarified that most scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still undergoing training abroad at the time and therefore could not have participated in any form of uranium enrichment.
Umar added that Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor, NIRR-1, was established only in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and was later commissioned in 2004.
He urged the public to disregard the misinformation and rely only on verified sources regarding Nigeria’s nuclear research and development.
