Former Sierra Leone President relocates to Nigeria on asylum after treason charges

Former Sierra Leone President relocates to Nigeria on asylum after treason charges

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced plans to relocate former Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma to Nigeria on Thursday, sparking controversy.

The ECOWAS Commission President, Omar Alieu Touray, said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision to transfer Koroma was based on an agreement made by an ECOWAS Mission to Freetown on December 23.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Senegal’s Macky Sail led the high-level delegation.

Touray added that the former President has accepted the invitation to be entertained in Nigeria, and that arrangements will be made to fly him out of Freetown today, subject to approval.

The former Sierra Leonean President was on Tuesday charged with four counts of treason in connection to an attempted coup.

However, Sierra Leone Foreign Minster Timothy Kabba told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) the government did not support the proposal to relocate Koroma, which he described as a unilateral proposition by the ECOWAS Commission President.

But, Touray’s statement on Koroma’s relocation to Nigeria, titled: “Temporary relocation of former President to Abuja”, reads: “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 offered to host His Excellency Ernest Bal Koroma, former President of Sierra Leone, in Abuja on a temporary basis.

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“The former President has accepted the offer to be hosted In Nigeria. Subject to your approval, arrangements will be made to fly former President Koroma out of Freetown on Thursday, 4th January.”

However, the former president’s lawyer, Joseph Kamara, told the BBC he was “shocked and in utter disbelief”, saying the charges set a “dangerous precedent.

“A dark cloud has shadowed the skies of our country. Meaning that we are dragging a former head of state – democratically elected – on trumped-up charges under a political vendetta,” he said.

Last November, gunmen broke into a military armoury and several prisons in Freetown, freeing almost 2,000 inmates.

He has denied any involvement in the attack, which killed about 20 people.

On Tuesday, Koroma and 11 other people were charged over the attempted coup, including one of Mr. Koroma’s former bodyguards.

Koroma has been under house arrest since being questioned over the coup.

He was President for 11 years until 2018, when incumbent President, Julius Maada Bio, was elected.

The former president’s daughter, Dankay Koroma, has previously been named on a list of wanted suspects by the police. She has not commented.

The attempted coup came five months after a disputed election which President Bio narrowly won to continue in office.

The results were rejected by Koroma’s All People’s Congress. International observers also criticised the elections, highlighting a lack of transparency in the count.

Former Sierra Leone President relocates to Nigeria on asylum after treason charges