By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
A Nigerian, Mubarak Bala, has been arrested by the Kaduna State police command for allegedly making an offensive Facebook post against Islam Holy Prophet.
The Kano State born self confessed atheist is the national president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria.
He was arrested on April 27 following a petition by some Nigerian Muslims that Bala’s post was offensive.
In Islamic law, the said offence is punishable by death. But Nigerians on Twitter have argued that since Bala is no longer a Muslim, he can’t be tried by the said Muslim law.
A demand to free him has been a top trend on Twitter with the hashtag #FreeMubarakBala.
Bala was said to have converted to atheism from Islam in 2014. That action earned him an 18-day detention in a psychiatric hospital where he said he was forcibly drugged.
Wikipedia published Bala’s experience in the mental institution, saying that one doctor suggested there was nothing wrong with him while a second doctor saId he has a personality disorder.
The online information platform quoted a doctor who told Bala that: “My dear, you need a God, even in Japan, they have a God, no one should live without God, those that do, are all psychologically ill, denying the biblical account of Adam and Eve is delusion, denial of history.”
Secretary General of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Leo Igwe, said they were worried that Bala may be transferred to Kano by the Kaduna State police command where he would be prosecuted under Islamic jurisprudence.
Already, a Twitter user, @KawuGarba, has threatened that he and others would kill Bala if the proselyte is not prosecuted.