Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed allegations linking it to the development of a nuclear weapon for Nigeria.
The institution issued its denial in a statement released by the Director of the Public Affairs Directorate, Malam Auwalu Umar, on Saturday in Zaria.
Umar described the circulating video, making the claim as AI-generated, noting that it was intended to mislead the public about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.
He stated that the video falsely alleged 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.
The university spokesperson clarified that the claims were baseless, unfounded, and lacked any credible evidence.
He further explained that most of the ABU scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, CERT, were still undergoing training overseas during the 1980s and, therefore, could not have been involved in uranium enrichment.
“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.
