Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has dismissed persistent criticism for his visit to Guinea earlier this week, saying that the state visit was in the interest of his country’s national security.

President Bio spent part of his day on Monday in Guinea’s capital, Conkary, holding talks with the leadership of the military junta.

However, supporters of the opposition in Sierra Leone heavily criticised the visit, saying that Bio’s action amounted to undermining the decision of the regional bloc ECOWAS, which had slammed sanctions on Guinea for the September 5 coup which brought Doumbouya to power.

However, President Bio in an interview with CNN on Thursday dismissed the suggestion and said that he made the visit with the consent of “few members” of the bloc.

“Guinea is a neighbour. We do quite a lot of things together. We have security arrangements which are falling apart. I needed to sort those out,” he said on the sidelines of the ongoing EXPO2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, adding that “my national security is what’s most important to me,” he stressed.

Watch the interview below: