Mubarak Bala, a prominent Nigerian Atheist who was arrested in 2020 for blasphemy has been released from prison after spending four years behind bars.
Bala who was arrested in in his home in neighboring Kaduna and detained in Kano in 2020 online posts he wrote over several months in 2020 disparaging Islam, the Prophet Mohammed, and God.
He was arrested in 2020 after a group of lawyers filed a complaint against him based on a viral social media post on religion. after awaiting trial for two years, he was finally arraigned and handed a 24-year sentence by a high court in Kano State in April 2022.
In May 2024, his sentence was commuted to a five-year sentence after an appeal court judged accepted the submission of his lawyers that his initial sentence was unfair.
Initial Court Proceeding
During his arraignment in April 2022, Bala pleaded guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy ranging from general blasphemy, Doctrinal blasphemy, and expressions about religious non-belief in online activities. He was convicted of insulting religion with the intent of breaching peace before a sharia court, an offence under section 210 of the Kano state penal code.
At the time he said his admission of guilt was not only to preserve his life but also to ensure the safety of others who were connected to his case.
Existential Threats Still Remain
Despite his release he is still believed to be in danger and as such is being housed in a secure location according to his lawyers.
Speaking on the threat to his safety, Bala says “The freedom is here but also there is an underlying threat that i will now have to face.
“Probably all those years, those threats are only out there while i am here under a security system.
Bala states as things stand, he has a lot to catch up on family wise and in terms of getting reintegrated into the society. He however states he holds no regret about coming out as an atheist years ago as he always recognized there was a hanging threat in that.
