A Nigerian atheist has been sentenced to 24 years in prison by a high court in the northern state of Kano, Nigeria after he was convicted for blaspheming Islam.
Mubarak Bala,is 37-year-old, and the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria,has pleaded guilty to all 18 charges and asked for leniency and has since been in detention since 2020.He was arrested in 2020 in Kaduna state, and sent to Kano, his home state.
Some Muslims filed a petition to the authorities accusing him of posting blasphemy messages about Islam on social media.On April 27 2020, Mubarak,was said to have compared Prophet TB Joshua to Prophet Mohammed.Bala renounced his Islamic faith in 2014.
He posted on his Facebook page saying,“There’s no difference between prophet TB Joshua (S.A.W) of Lagos and Muhammadu (A.S.) of Saudi Arabia, it is better for our Nigeria to be terrorism.” He posted another one saying,“Whoever believes religion has been duped – If you cant take blasphemy against Islam, criticizism of its doctrines, this page is not for you. I have not even started ooo.”
“Religion insults human reason and conscience, duped me that I have another lifetime,” Mubarak stated.
Bala pleaded with the court on Tuesday to temper justice with mercy,and also promised not to repeat the said blasphemous post. Bala stated that he did not know it would spark the sort of reactions it got when he made those posts on his Facebook page.Bala’s lawyer told the court that his client had a mental problem,and was treated at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.
