Nigerian Atheist, Mubarak Bala, Freed from Kano Psychiatric Ward

Mubarak Bala, the Nigerian man who was detained in a psychiatric ward for being an atheist, has been released. And according to BBC, Bala, a chemical engineering graduate, was freed on Tuesday due to the strike by Nigerian doctors. But news of his release was not made public until he was in a secure location.

Mubarak had been detained and medicated at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State since June 13th by his family after he declared he does not believe in God, despite being raised in a Muslim family in Kano.

Reports say when Mr Bala told his family he did not believe in God, they took him to a doctor and asked if he was mentally ill. After the doctor dismissed claims of psychiatric problems, Mubarak’s family alleged that he also made delusional claims that he was a “governor”. They are then believed to have taken him to a second doctor who claimed Bala was suffering with a personality disorder, so he was sent to the psychiatric hospital.

 

However, communicating by email and Twitter from a secreted smartphone, Mubarak Bala was able to raise the alarm that he was been held against his will and activists were able to come to his rescue.

After his release, Bala took to his social media pages to thank everyone who campaigned for his release, saying he now wants to reconcile with his family. And that he also wants to leave the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria after receiving death threats for blaspheming against Islam.

HERE ARE THE TWEETS BALA HAD SHARED FROM THE HOSPITAL