Babcock University has rejected allegations that it procured biometric surveillance equipment from Israel, after an investigation reported by Al Jazeera linked the institution to a wider network of security deals involving the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the university said it had “never purchased any equipment from Israel” nor engaged in “counter-terrorism, surveillance, intelligence, or related security operations of any kind or nature” as implied in the publication.
Signed by its associate vice-president for communication, media and branding, Dr Johnson Akintayo, the statement said the university had immediately launched an internal review of its procurement, financial and administrative records following the report.
“This review confirmed that the claims referencing the institution are entirely unfounded, spurious, baseless and false,” it said.
The university described itself as a faith-based institution committed to academic excellence, ethical governance and regulatory compliance, adding that all acquisitions are subject to structured approval processes and institutional oversight. It said it “strongly dissociates itself from any insinuation” that contradicts its mission or governance framework.
Claims of ‘field-proven’ technology
The rebuttal follows a report by Al Jazeera, based on an investigation by Drop Site News drawing on emails released by the United States Department of Justice. The correspondence allegedly shows Epstein and Barak collaborating for more than a decade to market surveillance technology to Nigerian officials, leveraging insecurity linked to the Boko Haram insurgency.
According to the report, Israeli intelligence-linked firms promoted systems described as “field-proven” – a term said to reference technology deployed by the Israeli military in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In 2015, Barak and a partner reportedly invested $15m in FST Biometrics, founded by former Israeli military intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi Farkash. Its core system, known as Basel, was initially prototyped at the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing between Israel and Gaza.
Al Jazeera reported that similar biometric equipment was later sold to Babcock University and framed publicly as a counterterrorism measure, with a contemporaneous press release said to have described the system as one that would “filter away all unwanted persons”.
Babcock has now categorically denied those claims.
Wider geopolitical fallout
The investigation further alleges that security cooperation served as a gateway to broader commercial interests in Nigeria’s oil, infrastructure and logistics sectors, including dealings involving the Emirati logistics giant DP World.
The revelations come amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s global network following the release of millions of documents detailing his associations with political and business elites. Barak, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001, has previously expressed regret over his relationship with Epstein, maintaining that he was unaware of the full extent of the financier’s crimes until investigations widened in 2019.
Babcock University said it remained “steadfast in its commitment to integrity, transparency, responsible leadership, and the trust reposed in it” by its stakeholders, as the allegations reverberate through Nigeria’s academic and political spheres.
