NIGERIA: Letter from Mubarak’s Wife

Mrs. Amina Ahmed

C/o Humanist Association of Nigeria. Email: princesscchali@gmail.com

To:

The Senate President
Sen. Ahmad Lawal And Speaker of House of Representatives
Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila|
The National Assembly
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Three Arms Zone
Abuja, FCT

6^th August, 2020

PLEASE GIVE ME PROOF MY HUSBAND IS ALIVE – AN OPEN APPEAL TO THE SENATE PRESIDENT AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

I am Mrs. Amina Ahmed, the wife of Mubarak Bala, the President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria.

My son, Sodangi, was born on March 17 this year. On March 31, my husband had to travel to Kaduna for work and we said our goodbyes. Little did I know then that Sodangi and I would not see Mubarak for months and by August we would not know if he is alive or dead.

On April 27, 2020, S.S Umar & Co of Zoo Road Kano, Kano State made a complaint about a comment that my husband had posted to his Facebook page. They said the comment was “provocative and annoying to the Muslims”. The next day, Mubarak was arrested in Kaduna and he has not been seen, or heard from, since.

The Kaduna police informed Mubarak’s lawyers that he had been passed to the custody of Kano police on April 29. Despite many requests, Kano police have flatly refused to allow Mubarak’s lawyers to see him or to contact him by ‘phone or email. Even after his lawyers secured a court order on June 25, that ordered the Kano police to allow defence counsel access to Mubarak, Habu Sani, the Kano Police Commissioner has refused to cooperate with the order.

I swear my heart stopped beating when I heard Mubarak was in Kano. He had received death threats from that state in the preceding weeks including one from a police officer who said he would kill Mubarak if he should set foot in the state. Given Kano’s history of religious violence and killing, these threats must be taken very seriously.

On May 8, Mubarak’s lawyers petitioned the Federal High Court for enforcement of his fundamental human rights. I hoped this high priority case would resolve matters quickly, but it did not. Four hearing dates have been issued but the case has not been heard: May 25 was a bank holiday; June 18, the judge was absent; July 9, defence counsel was absent; July 16, defence counsel was absent. Mubarak’s lawyers were told the next available date would be in October. I am reminded of the saying, justice delayed, is justice denied.

I am not a lawyer, but I do know that every person in Nigeria is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And that means, Mubarak, has been incarcerated as an innocent man for more than 3 months. I also know that every citizen detained is entitled to meet with their lawyers for legal advice. This right has been denied to my husband. Finally, I believe, citizens should be charged within 24 hours or be released. This right too, has been denied Mubarak. My husband is a chemical engineer, a kind and gentle family man who would never hurt anyone. Why is he denied important rights that are freely given to the most violent armed robbers?

I pray that my husband be treated according to the laws of Nigeria. I pray that he be tried so we can find out if he is guilty of any wrongdoing or not.

But, above all, I beg you Senators and Honourable members of House of Representatives, the men and women who swear to God to uphold the rule of law in my country, on my bended knees, I beg you please let me have proof that Mubarak is alive, please let me see my husband and let Mubarak hold his son again. This is all I ask of you.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Amina Ahmed

Leo Igwe

Leo Igwe (born July 26, 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenting the impacts of child witchcraft accusations. He holds a Ph.D from the Bayreuth International School of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, having earned a graduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. Igwe’s human rights advocacy has brought him into conflict with high-profile witchcraft believers, such as Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, because of his criticism of what he describes as their role in the violence and child abandonment that sometimes result from accusations of witchcraft. His human rights fieldwork has led to his arrest on several occasions in Nigeria. Igwe has held leadership roles in the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Atheist Alliance International, and the Center For Inquiry—Nigeria. In 2012, Igwe was appointed as a Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, where he continues working toward the goal of responding to what he sees as the deleterious effects of superstition, advancing skepticism throughout Africa and around the world. In 2014, Igwe was chosen as a laureate of the International Academy of Humanism and in 2017 received the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Igwe was raised in southeastern Nigeria, and describes his household as being strictly Catholic in the midst of a “highly superstitious community,” according to an interview in the Gold Coast Bulletin.[1] At age twelve, Igwe entered the seminary, beginning to study for the Catholic priesthood, but later was confused by conflicting beliefs between Christian theology and the beliefs in witches and wizards that are “entrenched in Nigerian society.”[1] After a period of research and internal conflict due to doubts about the “odd blend of tribalism and fundamentalist Christianity he believes is stunting African development,” a 24-year-old Igwe resigned from the seminary and relocated to Ibadan, Nigeria