Today marks the 90th day since the police arrested Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, in Kaduna. They later transferred him to Kano, where he has been held incommunicado, without access to a lawyer or a legal representation. Bala has not been formally charged or allowed to see his family members.
Both governmental and non-governmental agencies, including some foreign Christian faith NGOs, have called for his release. But so far, the Nigerian authorities have ignored all the appeals. Requests to charge or release Mr Bala have fallen on deaf ears. Following what has transpired since his arrest, the police are not committed to prosecuting Mr Bala as required by law. At the same time, they are unwilling to release him.
More so, Bala only made posts on Facebook. He did not attack or kill as many Muslim extremists have done across the country with impunity. So, Bala's only crime is that he is an atheist. Furthermore, the UN experts went further and stated that as in the case of Mr Bala: “No one should be arbitrarily detained or arrested for expressing peacefully their opinion, thought and conscience or for simply being an atheist".