Protest Swells To Free Kano Man Who Denied Islam

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

Nigerian activists and social media users have flooded cyberspace to demand the unconditional release of the President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, (HAN), Mubarak Bala, who was arrested by the Nigeria Police over alleged “blasphemy” against Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page.

Bala’s arrest was made known by the Chairman, HAN Board of Trustees, Leo Igwe, on Tuesday, who noted that the arrest was carried out by police officials who took him away from his residence..

It was gathered that Bala has been detained at the Gbabasawa police station in Kaduna.

Bala was a Muslim before his renouncement of the religion for the humanity movement, and he is often regarded as Atheist, due to his beliefs.

Prior to his arrest, a group of lawyers had petitioned the Kano State Commissioner of Police to arrest Bala for allegedly publicly insulting Prophet Muhammad.

The petition accused Bala for writing provocative materials against Prophet Muhammad since his 2014 renunciation of Islam, which they say can incite Muslims to take laws into their hands.

The arrest is not the first time that Bala, would be arrested supposedly for his beliefs. In 2014 after his conversion away from Islam he was allegedly held in a psychiatric hospital for 18 days.

He is the son of a prominent Kano indigene, Muhammad Bala, formerly head of the Social Reorientation Directorate of Kano State.

The petition for Bala’s arrest was signed by one S.S Umar.

Part of the petition reads, “We are submitting this complaint against one Mubarak Bala of Lay’m Masallacin Bilal, Karkasara Quarters Kano. The said Mubarak Bala was born and raised as a Muslim but for his own personal reason decided to leave Islam for atheism sometime in 2014, and has since then been writing stuffs on his Facebook page that are provocative and annoying to the Muslims. Among such stuff is calling the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH), all sorts of denigrating names like pedophile, terrorist, among other statements that will definitely incite Muslims and provoke them to take law into their hands, which may ultimately result into public disturbance and breach of the peace.”

Bala’s arrest has led to the hashtag #FreeMubarakBala on the microblogging platform, Twitter, as many Nigerians are demanding for this unconditional release.

While some argued that the arrest should not have been made on the claim that blasphemy was against the secularism of the Nigeria constitution.

GreenWhiteGreen gathered the following reactions.

@AyoSogunro tweeted: “Criminalising blasphemy under national laws rather than leaving it as a sin under personal beliefs is part of what Boko Haram stands for. Don’t be like Boko Haram. #FreeMubarakBala”

@aproko_doctor tweeted: “We often think the problem of Nigeria is religion. The actual problem is authoritarianism and the desire to angrily impose your personal beliefs on other people. #FreeMubarakBala.”

@dondekojo tweeted: “Hello, @PoliceNG you have endangered Mubarak’s life and if you succeed in transferring him to Kano, you will be held responsible. These are the people that you should be arresting. There are several death threats online on his page everyday. #FreeMubarak#FreeMubarakBala.”

@AyoBankole tweeted: “I can choose to worship a stone & propagate that Jesus & Mohammed are frauds. So far I harm no one. Its fine. It’s an indictment on society & govt to admit that the opinion of anyone about religion can lead to violence & murder in 2020. This is Stone Age thinking.#FreeMubarakBala.”

@Kassie_Usman tweeted: “Ngl Islam is pretty hard to love from the outside, especially with how barbaric it can get when someone questions or voices out their opinion about the “religion of peace”The blasphemy law is so vague it hinders on the right to freedom of speech. #FreeMubarakBala.”

@Ulomareen tweeted: “You claim your religion is not a religion of oppression but a religion of peace, but why are you quiet when dissenting voices are oppressed? The only reason you know “peace” is that you benefit from religious oppression.#FreeMubarakBala.”

@Dehkunle tweeted: “When Imam Of Peace preached against terrorism,child marriage, religious intolerance and political oppression ,you people said he isn’t a “true” Muslim. Mubaraq Bala was arrested for airing his opinions against your belief and you’re happy, “true Muslims” indeed

#FreeMubarakBala.”

DrOlufunmilayo tweeted: “Out of respect for Ramadan,

I want to appeal to all Muslims (and Christians) with a good heart to please not listen to the voices of extremism and violence at this time. Killing and harming people in the name of religion is terrorism. Pls lend your voice. Let us #FreeMubarakBala.”

@_Adadioramma tweeted: “No set of beliefs should be immune to criticism or ridicule. We can only respect people and their RIGHTS to hold a belief, not the actual belief itself. If someone tells me he/she believes the earth is flat, I have an obligation to ridicule it. #FreeMubarakBala.”

@MrFeral_ tweeted: “If Blasphemy is a crime in Nigeria, every Christian and Muslim Leader/Teacher should be in Jail because everyday they blaspheme against the gods of the traditionalists. #FreeMubarakBala.”

@thefaridaadamu tweeted: “How many more hashtags do we need to trend before we get a little sanity in this country? How are you arresting someone for “religious blasphemy” in 2020, in a secular state? Federal authorities should please intervene on Mubarak’s case. #FreeMubarakBala.”

@BroRogers tweeted: “How can you arrest someone for blasphemy when we don’t operate a theocracy here? And then you want to sponsor ignorant young men to ambush and kill him under the guise of transfer? And you call yourself a religion of peace ?‍♂️#FreeMubarakBala

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