Africa07 September, 20263 min read
Ernest Bai Koroma Returns To Sierra Leone After Treason Charges Dropped
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Treason charges against Ernest Bai Koroma were withdrawn by Sierra Leone's AG in July. He returned home after more than two years in Nigeria.
7 outlets told this the same way.
Koroma returns after charges dropped
Former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Sierra Leone on Sunday after treason charges against him were dropped, following his departure for Nigeria in 2024 after being charged with treason and other offences over a deadly 2023 army uprising. The SCMP report said Koroma arrived at the international airport in the capital, Freetown, accompanied by Nigerian ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigerian Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and he was welcomed by Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray and officials from Koroma’s party, the opposition All People’s Congress (APC). Koroma told journalists, “Today I have come back home and I’m happy,” and the SCMP said Sierra Leone’s justice ministry dropped the charges in July without giving a reason.
The Punch Newspapers report said former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan saw off Koroma as he returned home, describing Koroma as his “dear friend and brother,” and it said the Attorney-General’s office confirmed the proceedings were no longer before the court. The La Libre.be report added that Koroma arrived Sunday in Freetown accompanied by Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and it said he had turned himself in to Nigeria after obtaining permission to stay there for up to three months for medical treatment but remained there for more than two years.
Jonathan, Obasanjo, and welcomes
Punch Newspapers said Jonathan disclosed on his X handle that he had the pleasure of seeing off Koroma as he began his journey home to Sierra Leone, and it quoted Jonathan saying, “As we say farewell today, I am particularly happy that he is returning home to Freetown.” The SCMP report said Koroma was accompanied on arrival by Olusegun Obasanjo and Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and it said he was welcomed by Mohamed Rahman Swarray and officials from the opposition All People’s Congress (APC). La Libre.be reported that Koroma was welcomed at the international airport by his daughter, Sierra Leone’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray, and senior officials from the All People’s Congress (APC).
La Libre.be also quoted Koroma telling reporters at the airport, “Today I am going home and I am happy,” and it said he added, “I want to thank Almighty God, my family, and many foreign heads of state from the subregion.” SCMP said Koroma had been cleared to travel to Nigeria for three months for medical treatment but ended up staying more than two years, before the July decision to drop the charges.
Aftermath and political context
The Infobae report said Koroma, 72, returned to Sierra Leone this Sunday after the Office of the Attorney General withdrew last July the criminal charges against him, ending proceedings for alleged treason related to the failed coup attempt of November 2023. Infobae said the Public Prosecutor affirmed that Koroma’s bail was “canceled with immediate effect,” and it said the charges covered treason, treason-related concealment, and other crimes for his alleged involvement in the armed assaults of November 26, 2023, on military barracks and prisons in Freetown. Infobae reported that the attacks caused more than twenty deaths and facilitated the escape of about 1,890 inmates, and it said authorities detained dozens of active and retired soldiers, police, and civilians in what became one of the largest criminal investigations in recent years in the country.
The SCMP report said Koroma had left for Nigeria in 2024 days after being charged with treason and other offences, and it said the justice ministry dropped the charges in July without giving a reason. La Libre.be said Koroma had briefly returned at the end of July after the charges were dropped during a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), at the invitation of Julius Maada Bio, and it tied his return to the earlier permission he received for medical treatment.