The former president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, is set to arrive in Nigeria today, January 4, 2023, for political asylum after being charged with involvement in an attempted coup.
Koroma, the former president, is accused of participating in a coup on November 26 and has been charged with treason and other offences.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission, led by President Omar Alieu Touray, has secured asylum for the president to avoid potential imprisonment. This was reported in a letter they wrote to the current Sierra Leone president, Julius Maada Bio.
According to the government, he was a suspect in the plotted coup attempt on November 26, 2023, that resulted in the escape of almost 2,000 inmates and the deaths of 21 people.
The former president’s lawyer, Joseph Kamara, has denied all charges put against the former head of state, saying they were trying to tarnish his name, and he said the case has been adjourned until January 17, 2024.
Amadu Koita, a former soldier and Koroma’s bodyguard, was among the 12 people that Sierra Leone charged with treason.
Koroma was born and raised in Makeni, in the northern region of Sierra Leone. Prior to entering politics, he worked for more than 24 years in the private insurance sector.
From September 17, 2007, to April 4, 2018, Koroma led the country as its fourth president.
Last November, gunmen broke into a military armoury and several prisons in Freetown, freeing almost 2,000 inmates and leaving over 20 dead.