Sierra Leone’s ex-president named as suspect in foiled coup attempt: Reports

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Sierra Leone’s former President Ernest Bai Koroma is among 80 suspects named by police in connection with a failed coup attempt last month in the country, local media reported Wednesday.

The former president “is a suspect in the ongoing investigations” into the Nov. 26 coup attempt, local news portal Cocorioko said, citing William Fayia Sellu, the inspector general of Sierra Leone’s police.

Koroma has been granted bail with specific confinement at his residence in the capital Freetown, while the remaining 79 suspects are in custody at the criminal investigations department, Sellu was quoted as saying.

Also named among the suspects is Koroma’s daughter, Dankay Koroma.

Koroma has been questioned several times by police in connection with the coup attempt.

The suspects reportedly include 50 military officers and five sacked military personnel.

On Nov. 26, deadly violence broke out in Sierra Leone's capital, leaving around 20 people dead, including security personnel and a civilian.

The assailants attacked military barracks and prisons, freeing around 2,000 inmates.

The government described the clashes as an attempted coup.

Koroma, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, condemned the attack and called on the public to remain calm. But the military said several of the attackers were Koroma’s former bodyguards.