Mubarak Bala’s father was unable to accept that his son had become an atheist and he decided to have Mubarak confined in a psychiatric hospital. One day in 2014 Mubarak was seized and held down by his two uncles while Mubarak’s father injected a drug into his vein. They then bundled an unconscious Mubarak into a car and drove him to the hospital….
I was released from the psychiatric hospital later that year and I considered it was then my duty to normalise atheism among my people. Essentially, the reason I had been imprisoned in the hospital was that people had never heard of atheism or, if they had, they believed it to be a symptom of madness. I therefore decided to speak about atheism, humanism and secularism on social media every day. By doing so I would create a community of Humanists and so, if I was abducted a second time, my absence would be quickly noticed.
I amassed a large following on Facebook, Twitter (now X) and other social media outlets. Many people made positive comments on my posts, but I also began to receive threats. Some of these came from the President, from governors and military officers, and from the head of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. But I kept posting so that people would know if I stopped it would mean that I had been taken captive or killed. Meanwhile, we began to achieve a sense of community and people began to accept our presence rather than believing that – since we had left religion – we had to be murdered.
The morning when I was arrested – or rather abducted – I was summoned by two uniformed police officers who said that the Commissioner of Police for Kaduna state wished to see me briefly. So I was taken to the Commissioner’s office and he told me that, while he had nothing against me himself, I had come to the attention of the authorities in Kano and I was therefore to be handed over to them. Meanwhile, a giant police officer who was sitting next to the Commissioner asked repeatedly to be allowed to torture and mutilate me. This man became visibly angry when the Commissioner refused his request and he vowed that he would harm me for sure, no matter what people might say about it.
They then took me to the local police station and I was remanded for 24 hours. Meanwhile, I was visited by local Humanists who had been alerted by my house mates. Zacham Bayei and some other ex-Muslims came to see me, bringing food and some pocket money. This was in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic and I was being kept together with about 30 other people. No one there understood the dangers of this virus – they had no protocols at all.
The following morning more Humanists – whose names I will not mention – visited me. They were worried and distressed, but they wanted to express their solidarity and stayed for some time. I didn’t tell them that I was going to be taken to Kano as I didn’t want to add to their concerns. Everybody knows what happens to people in police custody, let alone atheists!
I then received a phone call from Dr. Leo Igwe who reached me by ringing one of my visitors. But before I could respond to his inquiry, the phone was snatched away from me by a zealous police officer, and the owner of the phone was taken into custody. I offered this officer some ‘entreaties’ and my ex-Muslim colleague was released with a smile. I then asked my visitors to leave, but before they went I told one of them – the only one who I was sure wouldn’t panic – that I was to be taken to Kano. He was shocked as he knew this meant certain death…. (To be continued)
By Mubarak Bala