Nigeria has facilitated the safe return of former Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma to the country, following more than two years of temporary relocation to Nigeria.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who accompanied Koroma to Freetown on the instruction of President Bola Tinubu, said his return marked the successful conclusion of a regional diplomatic and confidence-building process.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Koroma’s relocation to Nigeria in January 2024 followed engagements by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aimed at promoting peace, stability and political understanding in Sierra Leone.
According to her, the process helped create conditions for greater understanding between President Julius Maada Bio and the former president, paving the way for Koroma’s temporary stay in Nigeria.
“His conduct throughout this period reflected restraint, statesmanship, and commitment to a peaceful outcome,” the minister said, according to the statement issued by her Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Magnus Eze.
The minister noted that during his stay in Nigeria, sustained engagements involving ECOWAS, the Nigerian Government and other stakeholders contributed to resolving issues that had necessitated his relocation.
She expressed appreciation to President Bio, former President Koroma and the people of Sierra Leone for their cooperation and commitment to peace.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria remained committed to regional harmony, constitutional order and democratic stability, expressing confidence that Koroma’s return would further strengthen national reconciliation and peace in Sierra Leone.
Koroma had left for Nigeria in 2024, days after being charged with treason and other offences over a deadly 2023 army uprising.
The ex-president, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, arrived at the international airport in the capital, Freetown, accompanied by Nigerian ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and the minister.
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).
“Today I have come back home and I’m happy,” Koroma told journalists, smiling.
Koroma had been cleared by Sierra Leonean authorities to travel to Nigeria for three months for medical treatment but ended up staying more than two years.
In July, Sierra Leone’s justice ministry said it had dropped the charges against him, without giving a reason.
On Friday, Vice President Mohamed Jukdeh Jalloh told a gathering of local leaders and residents in Koroma’s stronghold, the central city of Makeni, that the ex-leader was returning home.
His homecoming comes ahead of presidential elections set for 2028.
The case against Koroma dates to November 2023, when armed attackers stormed a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations, clashing with security forces.
Twenty-one people were killed in what authorities deemed a coup attempt.
Two dozen soldiers and Koroma’s former bodyguard were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 50 to 100 years by a military court for their alleged roles in the mutiny.
Koroma had briefly visited Sierra Leone in July, after the charges were dropped, during a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the invitation of current President Julius Maada Bio.