Sierra Leone’s former President, Ernest Bai Koroma, who was charged for treason has reportedly arrived in Nigeria for a medical treatment.
This followed the West Africa sub-regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreement reached with the incumbent president, Julius Maada Bio.
Koroma, charged with treason for his alleged role in what authorities call an attempted coup, flew out of Freetown to Abuja, the Nigerian capital on Friday afternoon.
SaharaReporters reported on January 3, that the former Sierra Leone President was scheduled to relocate to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, temporarily pending approval from President Maada Bio after failed coup plot.
The 15-nation West African body, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, secured the temporarily relocation to Nigeria.
However, Koroma, who led the West African nation from 2007 to 2018, had received permission from judicial authorities on Wednesday to spend a maximum of three months in Nigeria for medical treatment.
President Bio on Thursday evening during an address to the nation, described the court’s decision a “humanitarian gesture”.
Koroma was accused of masterminding a failed coup to overthrow the government of Bio last November and the temporary accommodation was arranged as part of an agreement to drop all charges against him.
The government of President Bio government charged on January 3 with four offences including treason in relation to the events in late November. He was released on bail but placed on house arrest at his residence in Freetown while the matter was adjourned till January 17.
Koroma has effectively been under house arrest since December 9, 2023.
On Wednesday January 17, the Sierra Leone’s High Court authorised the ex-president to undergo medical treatment in Nigeria “for at the most three months from the date of this order and (on condition) that his sureties should provide regular medical updates, signed and duly authorised.”
ECOWAS President Omar Touray to President Bio had reiterated that Nigeria had agreed to host Koroma temporarily.
“As part of the agreement reached during the mission, the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has agreed to host His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of Sierra Leone, in Abuja, on a temporary basis,” the letter read.
The former president has accepted this offer, with plans in place for his departure from Freetown tomorrow, accompanied by his office manager and personal assistant.
The letter also stresses the necessity of continued payments for Koroma’s allowances and entitlements as a former head of state.
“The former president has accepted the offer to be hosted in Nigeria.”
Koroma landed in Abuja on Friday afternoon, welcomed by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the president of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray, AIT report.
Koroma’s adviser Sheriff Mahmud Ismail had said earlier that the former head of state boarded a Nigerian Air Force plane, without specifying the flight’s destination.