Mubarak Bala: Nigerian Man Forced Into Mental Hospital For Declaring Himself An Atheist

A Nigerian man, Mubarak Bala, has been admitted against his will in a mental ward for declaring himself an atheist, prompting outcry from human rights activists and humanist organizations around the world.

According to The Guardian, 29-year-old Bala has been forcefully detained after the hospital described him to have a “challenging psychological condition.” The International Humanist and Ethical Union has taken Bala’s case, and confirmed that the Nigerian man was brought to the mental hospital after he renounced Islam to his family.

Bala, which goes by the handle @ExMuslim on Twitter, is a chemical process engineer, according to his social media profile. He described himself an Agnostic Atheist and wrote that religion insults conscience and reason, and “duped me that I have another lifetime”.

Bala lives in Kano, in the northern regions of Nigeria, where Muslim traditions have dominated the area. In 2000, the state adopted Sharia Law and employed the Hisbah, a strict Islamic police force.

Aside from Bala’s detention inside the mental ward, he is also allegedly being forcefully medicated by hospital staff, despite one doctor opining that Bala has no psychological problems.

The first doctor the family consulted dismissed their claims regarding Bala’s mental health, prompting the family to consult another doctor. This time, the family reportedly added a few details about Bala’s “condition,” which included him allegedly declaring himself a “governor.” His family also commented that his activism was a sign of “madness,” according to the IHEU. Bala further described the events which led to his detention:

“And the biggest evidence of my mental illness was large blasphemies and denial of ‘history’ of Adam, and apostacy [sic], to which the doctor said was a personality change, that everyone needs a God, that even in Japan they have a God. And my brother added that all the atheists I see have had mental illness at some point in their life.”

Bala’s father gave his side of the story through the family lawyer, Muhammad Bello Shehu. According to the father, his move to send Bala to the mental hospital was motivated by fears that he or his family might face violent repercussions if Bala continued to publicize his non-beliefs:

“From what I gather from the family, Mubarak started expressing these beliefs six or seven months ago. The father was aware that he had stopping praying and going to mosques for a year now.

“But when he started tweeting about it and going public, that might have endangered his life and his family. So according to the father, the major reason he took him to the hospital was for his own safety. The way people take religion here means he could have been lynched for making such announcements.”

In an unrelated yet similar event reported by the Inquisitr a few days ago, educator Kevin Pack was allegedly fired from teaching at a high school in Indiana for allegedly being an atheist, although authorities are contesting his “religious discrimination” complaint after it was revealed that he performed poorly over the course of his time teaching in the institution.

[Image from IHEU]