Former president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, is reportedly seeking medical care in Nigeria.
The former president was granted permission to leave his country home by the High Court on Wednesday for a maximum of three months.
According to BBC, a Nigerian presidential jet carrying the former president was seen leaving Freetown International Airport on Friday afternoon.
While the current president, Julius Maada Bio, described the movement as “humanitarian gesture,” it is widely believed that a deal has been reached allowing Mr Bai Koroma to go into exile as his treason trial is due to start in March.
Meanwhile, Koroma led Sierra Leone for 11 years until 2018, when the current president, Bio, was elected.
A source hinted that ECOWAS had brokered a deal for Mr Koroma to go into exile in Nigeria if the charges were dropped to ease tension following the November unrest.
Report has it that Mr Koroma had agreed to the deal, which would see him continue to enjoy the perks of a former president even while he was in Nigeria.
In a nationwide address on Thursday night, President Julius Maada Bio said the issue of his predecessor was entirely in the hands of the judiciary.
“The courts have, therefore, granted the application for the former President to depart from the country purely for specialised medical reasons, and his trial will be suspended for the duration of his absence,” he said.
President Bio said it did not in any way detract from the seriousness of the ongoing trials, and that it was further proof that “the trial is not a political witch-hunt but one aimed at unravelling the truth behind the events of 26 November”.
He was charged with four offences including treason for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the West African country’s government in November, a court in the capital Freetown.
His charges also include misprision of treason and two counts of harbouring.
