Nigerian atheist freed from jail but fears for his life
A prominent Nigerian atheist, recently released after serving more than four years in prison on blasphemy charges, is now living in a safe house as his legal team fears his life may be in danger. Is.
Mubarak Bala, 40, was convicted in a court in the northern city of Kano when, in a surprise move, he pleaded guilty to 18 charges related to a controversial Facebook post he shared in 2020.
“There is always concern about my safety,” he told the BBC in an exclusive interview as he ate his first meal as a free man.
Nigeria is an extremely religious society and those who are seen to be insulting any religion – whether Islam or Christianity – are shunned and discriminated against.
Blasphemy is a crime under Islamic law – Sharia – which operates alongside secular law in 12 states in the north. It is also a crime under the criminal law of Nigeria.
Bala, who renounced Islam in 2014, said there were times during his imprisonment when he felt he “wouldn’t get out alive”. He feared that in his first prison in Kano, a predominantly Muslim city, he might be targeted by guards or fellow prisoners.
He said, “Freedom is here, but there is also an inherent danger that I now have to face.” “All those years, those threats, maybe they’re out there.”
He could have remained behind bars for much longer had an appeals court judge not reduced his initial 24-year sentence last year, calling it “excessive.”
Bala looked tired but happy in a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops as he walked out of prison in the capital Abuja. He emerged with his happy lawyer.
“Everything is new to me. Everything is new,” he said, taking in his newfound freedom.
Bala, an outspoken religious critic, was arrested after a group of lawyers filed a police complaint about his social media posts.
He spent two years in prison awaiting trial before being convicted in 2022.
Bala’s guilty plea at the time surprised many people, even his legal team, but he stands by his decision, saying it reduced the pressure on those who represented his lawyers, Along with friends and family stood with him.
He said, “I believe that what I did not only saved my life, but also saved the lives of people in Kano.”
“Especially those who were connected to my case, because they are also targets.”
His sentencing was widely condemned by international rights groups and sparked debate about freedom of expression in Nigeria.
His detention also sent shock waves through Nigeria’s smaller atheist and humanist communities, and his release comes as a relief to many, but concerns remain.
“It’s thanks and no thanks,” said Leo Igwe, founder of the Humanist Association of Nigeria.
“Thank you that he’s out, thank you that he’s a free man. But no thanks, because he’s been tainted as if he’d committed a crime. To us at the Humanist Association, he didn’t commit a crime.”
As for Bala, he is keen to relive the time lost – including getting to know his young son, who was just six weeks old at the time of his captivity. But he said he had no regrets.
“My activism, my posting on social media, I always knew the worst would happen, when I decided to come out, I knew I could be killed. I knew the dangers, and yet I chose to do so.” Decided.”
