Ex-Sierra Leone president charged in failed coup attempt, plans exile to Nigeria

Former Sierra Leone’s president Ernest Bai Koroma has been charged with four counts of treason for his alleged role in an attempted military takeover in November.

The court’s judgment could exacerbate socio-political anxieties in Sierra Leone following an attempted coup and a chaotic election in which President Julius Maada Bio was re-elected for a second term in June 2023.

Tensions have been rising in the country, which is still recuperating from a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002 and killed over 50,000 people.

Sierra Leone recently recovered from a coup attempt after gunmen on November 26 attacked military barracks, a prison, and other places in the West African country, freeing about 2,200 inmates and killing more than 20 people.

The government said the foiled coup was led mostly by Koroma’s bodyguards. They summoned the ex-president, who had condemned the attacks, for questioning at the start of December.

A high court on Wednesday granted the ex-leader bail and restricted him to his home in Freetown.

As part of efforts to douse tensions in the country, the Reuters news agency reported that Nigeria had offered to host Koroma temporarily and that the former president had accepted the offer.

According to Sierra Leone’s penal code, a person found guilty of treason could face imprisonment for life.