The former president is back in Freetown after more than two years in Nigeria and discontinued charges. Former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Freetown on Sunday, 6 September 2026, after living in Nigeria for more than two years. His return followed the July discontinuance of criminal proceedings connected to the November 2023 attacks that Sierra Leone's authorities described as an attempted coup.
Why has Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Sierra Leone? Sierra Leone's attorney-general discontinued the criminal proceedings against the former president in July, removing the legal obstacle to his return. Koroma then travelled from Nigeria to Freetown on 6 September, where government and opposition representatives received him at the airport.
What happened in Freetown
AFP reported through TV5Monde that Koroma arrived in the Sierra Leonean capital on Sunday and told journalists at the airport that he was happy to be home. The report says former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigeria's foreign minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, accompanied him.
Koroma was welcomed by his daughter, Sierra Leone's foreign minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray and senior figures from the opposition All People's Congress, according to the same account. That mix of government, family and party representatives made the arrival a political as well as personal event.
Sahara Reporters documented former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan's public farewell message. Jonathan said Nigeria had provided Koroma with support and that regional figures had encouraged dialogue with Sierra Leonean authorities.
Why Koroma had been in Nigeria
Koroma governed Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018. He was charged in January 2024 with treason, misprision of treason and related offences arising from the authorities' investigation of the November 2023 violence in Freetown. He denied involvement.
A court allowed him to travel to Nigeria for medical treatment. Although the original permission was limited, Koroma remained there for more than two years under a regional arrangement while political and legal discussions continued.
The criminal proceedings were discontinued in July 2026. The Guardian Nigeria reported that Nigeria's federal government helped facilitate his safe return after the charges were withdrawn. A discontinued case is not the same as a trial acquittal, so coverage should not claim that a court heard the evidence and declared him innocent.
AFRICAN POLITICS
Ernest Bai Koroma Returns to Sierra Leone
Sep 7, 2026
Sep 7, 2026
4 min read
Published
Updated:
The former president is back in Freetown after more than two years in Nigeria and discontinued charges. Former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Freetown on Sunday, 6 September 2026, after living in Nigeria for more than two years. His return followed the July discontinuance of criminal proceedings connected to the November 2023 attacks that Sierra Leone's authorities described as an attempted coup.
Why has Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Sierra Leone? Sierra Leone's attorney-general discontinued the criminal proceedings against the former president in July, removing the legal obstacle to his return. Koroma then travelled from Nigeria to Freetown on 6 September, where government and opposition representatives received him at the airport.
What happened in Freetown
AFP reported through TV5Monde that Koroma arrived in the Sierra Leonean capital on Sunday and told journalists at the airport that he was happy to be home. The report says former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigeria's foreign minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, accompanied him.
Koroma was welcomed by his daughter, Sierra Leone's foreign minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray and senior figures from the opposition All People's Congress, according to the same account. That mix of government, family and party representatives made the arrival a political as well as personal event.
Sahara Reporters documented former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan's public farewell message. Jonathan said Nigeria had provided Koroma with support and that regional figures had encouraged dialogue with Sierra Leonean authorities.
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Why Koroma had been in Nigeria
Koroma governed Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018. He was charged in January 2024 with treason, misprision of treason and related offences arising from the authorities' investigation of the November 2023 violence in Freetown. He denied involvement.
A court allowed him to travel to Nigeria for medical treatment. Although the original permission was limited, Koroma remained there for more than two years under a regional arrangement while political and legal discussions continued.
The criminal proceedings were discontinued in July 2026. The Guardian Nigeria reported that Nigeria's federal government helped facilitate his safe return after the charges were withdrawn. A discontinued case is not the same as a trial acquittal, so coverage should not claim that a court heard the evidence and declared him innocent.
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What the discontinued proceedings mean
Sierra Leone's attorney-general filed a notice ending the prosecution and said Koroma was free to return. The decision removed his bail restrictions and the immediate criminal case against him. Public explanations did not establish a judicial finding about his alleged role in the 2023 attacks.
Those attacks targeted military facilities, prisons and police stations. Sierra Leone's government described them as an attempted coup. Koroma repeatedly rejected accusations that he was involved, and the subsequent discontinuance means those allegations should still be reported as allegations rather than settled fact.
This distinction matters as the country discusses reconciliation. Legal closure of the pending proceedings may lower one source of political tension, but it does not erase disagreements over the violence, the investigation or relations between the government and the APC.
Why the return matters across West Africa
Koroma's stay in Nigeria and the involvement of former regional leaders made the episode an ECOWAS diplomacy story. The return demonstrates how informal engagement by elder statesmen can operate alongside formal court and government processes.
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It also comes as West Africa faces wider political divisions. XTRAfrica's profile of ECOWAS Commission president Birame Diop explains the institution's current regional challenges, while earlier coverage of the proposed ECOWAS single currency shows how integration depends on cooperation beyond security crises.
Koroma's arrival does not itself announce a new public office, electoral campaign or formal mediation role. Any claim about his next political move would be speculation unless he, the APC or Sierra Leone's authorities issue a clear statement.
The next substantive developments will be whether Koroma addresses supporters, meets President Julius Maada Bio or receives a defined party or peace-building role. For now, the confirmed update is his physical return and the legal change that made it possible.
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