Justice Farouk Lawan of Kano High Court 4, Audu Bako Secretariat on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 sentenced Kano-born atheist, Mubarak Bala, to 24 years imprisonment after he plead guilty to blasphemy.
Bala, who is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested at his home in Kaduna on April 28, 2020 for blaspheming.
His arrest came after he posted comments criticizing Islam, Allah and Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.
One of his posts reads: “Religion is not a person, long dead people are dead, Gods do not exist, so why fear analysis & critique on works attributed to them?”
When the judge asked him whether he knows the consequences of his guilty plea, Bala insisted not to change his initial plea.
Bala’s lawyer, James Ibor, had earlier tried to persuade his client to change his plea, but he insisted that he was guilty to charges.
The lawyer however cited frustration and fear as reasons for his client’s guilty plea, saying his client had been in prison for two years.
But Mr Bala, who appeared unruffled, raised his hand and told the court that he was guilty as charged.
In his plea of leniency, Bala, however, said the intent of his social media posts was not to cause violence. He therefore promised not to repeat the blasphemous posts in future.
Passing the sentence, Justice Lawan sentenced him to 24 years imprisonment.
