Nigeria atheist Bala freed from Kano psychiatric hospital

A Nigerian man detained in a hospital psychiatric ward because he did not believe in God has been freed.

Mubarak Bala was released because of a doctors' strike which has seen many patients discharged, a charity said.
Mr Bala said he now wanted to reconcile with his family who committed him to the hospital in Kano where he says he was held against his will for 18 days.
But he said he wanted to leave the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria after receiving death threats.

A humanist charity which took up his case said that Mr Bala, a chemical engineering graduate, was freed on Tuesday but news of his release was not made public until he was in a secure location.

"There are still deep concerns for Mubarak's safety in a part of the country where accusations of 'apostasy' can be deadly," the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) said in a statement. The man's family is reported to have had him committed to the hospital because it feared for his safety after he publicly stated his atheism.


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