A Nigerian man detained in a hospital psychiatric ward because he did not believe in God has been freed, a humanist charity has said.<\/p>\n
Mubarak Bala was released because of a doctors’ strike which has seen many patients discharged, the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) said.<\/p>\n
He was held against his will for 18 days after his Muslim family committed him to the hospital in Kano, it said.<\/p>\n
Northern Nigeria is mainly Muslim and adopted Islamic law in 2000.<\/p>\n
The IHEU said 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.<\/p>\n
“There are still deep concerns for Mubarak’s safety in a part of the country where accusations of ‘apostasy’ can be deadly,” the charity said in a statement.<\/p>\n
After the 29-year-old was admitted to a psychiatric ward at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, he sought help from the hospital via email and social media, until his phone was confiscated, according to IHEU.<\/p>\n
Mr Bala, who was medicated during his stay, said he had no desire to take further legal action and thanked those who had campaigned for his release, the statement said.<\/p>\n
“To those who have made threats against me, I urge you to reason and learn to tolerate opinions other than yours,” he is quoted as saying by the charity.<\/p>\n
When Mr Bala was first detained IHEU said his family had asked a doctor if he was mentally ill because he had told relatives that he was an atheist.<\/p>\n
Despite being told that he was not unwell, Mr Bala’s family then went to a second doctor, who declared that his atheism was a side-effect of suffering a personality change, the group said.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Nigerian man detained in a hospital psychiatric ward because he did not believe in God has been freed, a humanist charity has said. Mubarak Bala was released because of a doctors’ strike which has seen many patients discharged, the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) said. He was held against his will for 18 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":29665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[1576,14,125],"yoast_head":"\n