The Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, has denied the allegation that it was involved in developing a nuclear weapon for Nigeria. They tagged the claim  “baseless and mischievous”

In a statement published by the Director of Public Affairs, Auwalu Umar, the university management 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 management of ABU, however, debunked the allegations, stressing that the claims were “scientifically impossible and historically inaccurate.”

Umar also gave a detailed account of the video where the allegation was made as AI-generated, adding that it was targeted at misinforming the general public about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.

According to the Director, the video falsely stated 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.

He added that most of the ABU scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, CERT, were still undergoing training abroad as at 1980s and could not have participated in uranium enrichment.

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.

Mr Umar added that all of ABU’s nuclear research has been conducted under strict international supervision and in full compliance with global non-proliferation treaties.