Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Freetown on Sunday after more than two years in Nigeria, following the government’s decision to drop treason charges linked to a 2023 alleged coup attempt.
Koroma, 72, who led the country from 2007 to 2018, arrived at the capital’s international airport accompanied by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray and officials from Koroma’s All People’s Congress party received him.
Nigeria facilitated the return on the instruction of President Bola Tinubu as the culmination of regional diplomatic efforts involving ECOWAS. Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated that Koroma’s relocation to Nigeria in January 2024 followed ECOWAS engagements aimed at promoting peace and political understanding. “His conduct throughout this period reflected restraint, statesmanship, and commitment to a peaceful outcome,” she said in an official statement.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan saw Koroma off in Nigeria. “This morning, I had the pleasure of seeing off my dear friend and brother, His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma, as he begins his journey home to Sierra Leone,” Jonathan said. “Nigeria was his home away from home for over two years.”
Koroma had been charged with treason after armed attackers stormed military sites and prisons in Freetown in November 2023, killing at least 21 people and freeing more than 2,200 inmates. He denied involvement. A court later allowed him to travel to Nigeria on medical grounds, where he remained under an ECOWAS-brokered arrangement.
In July 2026, Sierra Leone’s Attorney General discontinued the criminal proceedings. Vice President Mohamed Jalloh announced the return as part of efforts to promote national cohesion. The homecoming comes ahead of presidential elections scheduled for 2028.
