KANO — Kano State High Court has sentenced a Nigerian atheist and president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria Mubarak Bala, to 24 years imprisonment for blasphemy against Allah and His Prophet (SAW).
Bala, who had initially pleaded not guilty to the crime, backtracked on Tuesday and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment by a Kano State High Court.
The convict, whose age and address was not provided by the court, was earlier arraigned on an 18-count charge bordering on blasphemy, incitement, contempt of religion, and breach of public peace.
Delivering judgment, Justice Farouk Lawan, sentenced the convict to 24 years imprisonment.
Born in Kano State in the mid-80s, here are 10 things you may want to know about Bala, he attended the Islamic Foundation, Aliyu Bin Abi Talib Primary School.
He had ambitions of being a leader, in any capacity at the national level and later attended private science secondary school, Hassan I. Gwarzo, in Kano State, where Islamic (Qur’anic) study is given a very high priority.
Bala was awarded Humanist Society Scotland’s Gordon Ross Humanist of the Year Award on 8 January 2021. He became well known in 2014 when the media reported that he had been forcibly drugged and committed to a psychiatric unit by his family members after telling them he was an atheist.
He was released shortly thereafter and became an outspoken advocate for Nigerian atheist rights and freedoms. Bala was arrested on April 28, 2020, reportedly for a Facebook post in which he insulted Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
In December a federal court in the capital, Abuja, ruled that Bala’s detention was unconstitutional and ordered authorities in Kano to either charge Bala with a crime under secular law or release him.
