Former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, was among the high-profile attendees at the pre-convention church service of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC) in Abuja on Sunday.
The event took place in the expansive 100,000-seater Glory Dome auditorium ahead of the International Ministers’ Flaming Fire Conference (IMFFC), set to run from August 26 to 30.
Koroma, who served as Sierra Leone’s president from 2007 to 2018, was accompanied by other notable figures, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria. The gathering also featured delegates from 31 countries who had already arrived for the upcoming conference.
Despite his attendance at the spiritual event, Koroma’s presence comes against a backdrop of legal challenges back home in Sierra Leone.
The 70-year-old former leader is currently facing charges related to his alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt on November 26, 2023.
Koroma, who has been charged with four offenses in connection with the plot to overthrow the government, was granted permission by the High Court to leave the country for medical treatment in Nigeria. The court’s ruling allows him to remain abroad for a maximum of three months, which has been exceeded.
Sierra Leone’s current president, Julius Maada Bio, who secured a second term in a contentious 2023 election, described the decision to allow Koroma to seek medical treatment as a “humanitarian gesture.” However, there is speculation that the arrangement might lead to Koroma going into exile.
President Bio has remained firm in his commitment to holding Koroma and others accountable for their roles in the bloody coup attempt, which resulted in the deaths of 21 military personnel.
Koroma’s legal team has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, calling them part of a broader vendetta against the former president.
The case has raised concerns about further exacerbating domestic tensions in Sierra Leone, particularly in the aftermath of the disputed 2023 election, where the opposition and international observers questioned the validity of the results.
