The President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Mubarak Bala, a Kano-born atheist, has been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for blasphemy.
Bala who was charged to court for blasphemy and incitement appeared before Justice Farouk Lawan of Kano High Court 4, and pleaded guilty to the 18-count charge made against him.
Bako was arrested in Kaduna in 2020 and taken to Kano to face prosecution for blasphemy after some posts considered offensive to the sensibilities of Muslims.
The atheist had posted comments on Islam, Allah, and Prophet Muhammad, which were considered offensive and unacceptable to the Muslim community in the country.
“Religion is not a person, long-dead people are dead, Gods do not exist, so why fear analysis and critique on works attributed to them?” He was reported to have posted.
Daily Trust reported that Bala decided to sustain his guilty plea when the judge asked him if he knew the consequences of the decision.
Bala’s lawyer, James Ibor, made some unsuccessful efforts to make him to change the plea but he was adamant saying he was guilty of all the charges.
An obviously disappointed Barr Ibor attributed the self inflicted guilty plea to frustration and fear emanating from over two years of detention.
Delivering his judgment Justice Lawan who sentenced the atheist to 24 years imprisonment said that being an atheist does not confer on him the right to say derogatory things on other religions and their Gods.
He described Bala’s post as inappropriate.
