Popular Nigerian Atheist Sentenced to 24 Years in Jail for Blasphemy

Popular Nigerian atheist Mubarak Bala was on Tuesday sentenced to 24 years in jail for blasphemy.

Bala, an outspoken critic of religion, was sent to jail after pleading guilty to blasphemy charges in the largely Muslim northern state of Kano.

The charges were in connection with a Facebook post he made in April 2020, which authorities in Kano considered blasphemous and an insult to the Islam religion.

Bala told Kano High Court Judge Farouk Lawan that he was not coerced to plead guilty to 18 counts of blasphemy, saying he did it out of his own free will.

Bala’s attorney James Ibor told reporters that the sentencing was “very outrageous” and could be challenged.

“The sentence infringes his right as an atheist,” Ibor told Reuters.

Bala, who heads the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested at his home in the northern Kaduna state two years ago before being moved to neighboring Kano, a majority Muslim and conservative state, to face blasphemy-related charges.

The sentencing puts a spotlight on religious freedoms in the populous West African country.