Is ABU Zaria Carrying Out Secret Nuclear Weapon Project? Management Breaks Silence
- ABU denied social media claims that it was developing a nuclear weapon for Nigeria
- The university confirmed its scientists were not involved in uranium enrichment and had no link to the AQ Khan network
- Umar stated that ABU’s nuclear programme had always been peaceful, transparent, and committed to international collaboration
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has denied claims circulating on social media that it is involved in the development of a nuclear weapon for Nigeria.
Malam Auwalu Umar, Director of the Public Affairs Directorate, described the video as misleading and designed to spread false information about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.
Source: Twitter
“The viral AI-generated video is entirely false. It attempts to misinform the public by suggesting that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna and that ABU obtained centrifugal equipment from the AQ Khan network in Pakistan,” Umar said in a statement to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.
ABU scientists were not involved in uranium enrichment
The director emphasised that the claims are baseless, unfounded and unsubstantiated, Vanguard reported.
He explained that most ABU scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still undergoing training abroad during the 1980s and could not have participated in any uranium enrichment activities.
“ABU has never had any connection with the AQ Khan network and has never received equipment for constructing a centrifuge or nuclear device,” Umar added.
He further noted that by 1987, the university’s only nuclear facility was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational in 1988.
ABU’s nuclear programme is peaceful and transparent
Umar highlighted that Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor, NIRR-1, was established in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and commissioned in 2004.
“Nigeria’s nuclear activities have always been open and strictly for peaceful purposes, in line with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibit the development of nuclear weapons,” he said.
He also reaffirmed the university’s commitment to international collaboration, saying:
"The Centre for Energy Research and Training, established in 1976, operates in partnership with the IAEA and international partners from the US, Russia, and China. The centre has never engaged in any secret weapons programme.”
Commitment to science and peaceful nuclear research
Umar underlined that ABU’s work focuses solely on peaceful applications of nuclear science for national development, Punch reported.
He noted that ABU’s founder, Sir Ahmadu Bello, had shown early interest in atomic research following his visit to the Museum of Atomic Energy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US in 1960, two years before ABU was established.
“The management restates its commitment to advancing science and technology for the benefit of humanity and to upholding Nigeria’s international obligations regarding the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Umar concluded.
Shettima opens up on nuclear weapons in Nigeria
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Kashim Shettima, the vice president of Nigeria, has stated that the country is committed to a comprehensive nuclear weapon test ban by strengthening its collaboration with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).
The vice president made this known when he received the Executive Secretary of CTBTO, Robert Floyd, who was at the presidential villa on a courtesy visit on Monday, July 7.
Source: Legit.ng
