Johnny Paul Koroma

Johnny Paul Koroma (born May 9, 1960 in Tombodu ? died June 1, 2003 in Foya Kamala, Liberia) was the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998.

Related Topics:
May 9 - 1960 - Tombodu - June 1 - 2003 - Foya Kamala - Liberia - Armed Forces Revolutionary Council - Sierra Leone

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He was a military commander in the civil war fought in Sierra Leone during the 1990s. He was born in Tombodu, Kono District, in eastern Sierra Leone. He was a northern Limba, the same ethnic group as former President Joseph Saidu Momoh, who was deposed by the army in 1992.

Related Topics:
Tombodu - Kono District - Limba - Joseph Saidu Momoh

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Koroma received military training in Nigeria and Britain. He commanded government forces who were fighting against the Revolutionary United Front of Foday Sankoh. He was arrested in August 1996 after being involved in a coup plot against the southern civilian officials who were in control of the country. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was to have been killed. Koroma was released from prison during a successful military coup on May 25, 1997, when soldiers loyal to him brought him to power. He advocated making a peaceful settlement with Sankoh and allowing him to join the government, though this never happened.

Related Topics:
Nigeria - Britain - Revolutionary United Front - Foday Sankoh - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah - May 25 - 1997

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Koroma's forces were driven out of the capital, Freetown, in February 1998 by Nigerian-led forces of the Economic Community of West African States, and Kabbah was subsequently restored to power. After the end of the civil war, Koroma won a seat in parliament in the 2002 elections, but on January 19, 2003, he was charged with another coup plot, and on March 10, 2003 he was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes. He fled to Liberia where he was reportedly killed on June 1, 2003, under mysterious circumstances. It is unknown whether he was killed by his own men or by the Liberian army.

Related Topics:
Freetown - Economic Community of West African States - January 19 - 2003 - March 10 - Special Court for Sierra Leone - June 1

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