Former Sierra Leone President, Ernest Bai Koroma, will on Thursday move to Nigeria in return for treason charges against him to be dropped, Information Nigeria understands.
Koroma is being charged with four counts of treason in connection with an attempted and foiled coup.
Gunmen on November 26, 2023,attacked military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone (Freetown), freeing about 2,200 inmates and killing more than 20 people.
However, he denied any involvement in the attack.
Meanwhile, going on exile in Nigeria, is a deal the West African leaders are trying to broker, for charges against him to be dropped.
In a letter sighted online, Koroma has agreed to the deal, brokered by the regional group, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
”I am pleased to inform Your Excellency that 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 former president has accepted the offer to be hosted in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Edo: ‘Obaseki Against God’s Plan, My Governorship Ambition Divine’ — Shaibu
”Subject to your approval, arrangments will be made to fly former President Koroma out of Freetown on Thursday 4, January 2024. He will be accompanied by his office manager and personal assistant,” the letter read in part.
The letter also stresses the necessity of continued payments for Koroma’s allowances and entitlements as a former Head of State.
Though he has not commented publicly, he will travel to Nigeria , subject to the approval of Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio.
On Tuesday, 12 other people were charged over the attempted coup, including one of Koroma’s former bodyguards.
Koroma’s charges, which also include misprision of treason and two counts of harbouring, were read out while he stood in the dock and some of his supporters cried in the courtroom.
“A dangerous precedent has been set… We are dragging a former head of state – democratically elected – on trumped up charges under a political vendetta,” Koroma’s lawyer, Joseph Kamara, told Reuters.
According to Sierra Leone’s penal code, a person found guilty of treason could face imprisonment for life.
