President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN) Mubarak Bala has been arrested.
He was picked up by security operatives in Kaduna on Tuesday.
Leo Igwe, Chairman, HAN Board of Trustees, raised the alarm in a statement.
Igwe confirmed that police officers, who were not in uniform, took him from his residence.
Bala is being detained at the Gbabasawa police station in Kaduna.
His arrest has been linked to “blasphemy”.
A group of lawyers had petitioned the Kano State Police Command to prosecute Mubarak for insulting Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page.
One S. S. Umar signed the petition.
However, there is also an online petition on change.org.
One Halima Sa’adiya Umar started the petition asking Facebook to close down the account of Mubarak Bala.
“All of us at the Humanist Association of Nigeria are deeply worried by the arrest and detention of our president, Mubarak Bala”, Igwe noted.
“Mubarak Bala will likely be handed over to the Kano State Police Command, that will prosecute him for blasphemy, a crime that caries a death sentence under sharia law,” it said.
The Humanist association urged the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and the Kaduna Governor, Nasir Elrufai, to intervene and ensure his immediate release.