A prominent Nigerian atheist, who has just been freed after more than four years in prison for blasphemy, is now living in a safe house as his legal team fears for his life the danger.
Mubarak Bala, 40, was convicted in a court in the northern city of Kano after, in a surprise move, he pleaded guilty to 18 charges related to a controversial Facebook post shared in 2020.
“The concern for my safety is always there,” he told the BBC in an exclusive interview as he went into his first meal as a free man.
Nigeria is a very religious society and those who might be seen as insulting to religion – be it Islam or Christianity – face being shunned and half- birth
Blasphemy is a crime under Islamic law – Sharia – which works alongside secular law in 12 states in the north. It is also an offense under the Nigerian criminal law.
Bala, who renounced Islam in 2014, said there were times when he was in prison when he felt he “couldn't get out alive”. He was afraid that guards or fellow prisoners could target him in the first prison he was in, in Kano, which is mainly a Muslim city.
“There's freedom here, but there's also an underlying risk that I need now,” he said. “All these years, these threats, they're probably out there.”
He could have been in for much longer if not for an appeal court judge who reduced the original 24-year sentence last year, describing it as “excessive”.
Walking out of the prison in the capital, Abuja, Bala looked tired, but cheerful in a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops. He came out with his lawyer by his side.
“Everything is new to me. Everything is new,” he said as he embraced his new freedom.
Bala, a religious critic, was arrested after a group of lawyers filed a complaint with the police about the social media post.
He then spent two years in prison awaiting trial before being sentenced in 2022.
At the time, Bala's guilty plea upset many, even his legal team, but he stands by his decision, saying that he released the pressure on those who stood by him, giving including his lawyers, friends and family.
“I believe that what I did saved not only my life, but people in Kano,” he said.
“Especially those who were connected to my case, because they are also a target.”
His conviction was widely criticized by international rights groups and sparked a debate about freedom of speech in Nigeria.
His detention also sent shockwaves through Nigeria's small atheist and humanitarian communities, and his release has come as a relief to many, but concerns remain.
“It is thanks and no thanks,” said Leo Igwe, the founder of the Humanist Society of Nigeria.
“Thank you that he is out, thank you that he is a free man. But no thanks, because he has teeth as if he has committed a crime. To us at the Humane Society, he has not committed any crime .”
As for Bala, he wants to catch up on the time he lost – including getting to know his young son who was just six weeks old when he was imprisoned. But he said he had no regrets.
“My activity, my posting on social media, I always knew the worst would happen, When I made the decision to come out, I knew I could be killed. I knew the risks, and I still decided to do it. “
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