 Ahidjo was tried "in absentia" for the 1983 coup plot and was sentenced to death by a tribunal on February 28, 1984; on that occasion, the tribunal proposed that others, including Bello Bouba, should also be placed on trial.However, Biya halted the legal proceedings against them.Bello Bouba went into exile in Nigeria following the failed April 1984 coup attempt against Biya.