Washington– A US Army officer working as a nurse at a military base near Washington, D.C., has been charged with conspiring to provide financial and tactical support to separatist fighters in his native Cameroon. Court records It was revealed earlier this week.
Maj. Kenneth Chongag, a nurse who lives and works at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, is accused of using his military training and experience to help the Ambazonia Defense Forces in Cameroon.
Defense attorney Robert Jenkins told The Associated Press in an email on Friday that Chungak is “deeply dismayed by these charges and looks forward to a fair and timely resolution of this matter.”
Chungag, a 50-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, and co-defendant Mercy Akoy Ombako were arrested Monday on federal conspiracy charges. The investigating judge ordered their release from custody after an initial appearance in court in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors did not request pretrial detention.
In 2020, Chungag was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland when he first expressed interest in helping ADF members, according to the FBI affidavit. In online conversations with members of the Alliance of Democratic Forces in Cameroon, Chongag falsely claimed to have combat experience in Iraq, but appeared to embellish his military background to raise his standing in the group, the affidavit said.
Chongag is accused of conspiring with Obaku, a Maryland resident, to transfer money from the United States to Cameroon to purchase AK-47 assault rifles. Investigators believe that Chongag became disillusioned and withdrew from the organization in 2024. Later that year, FBI agents questioned him about his activities related to the ADF. Investigators believe he attempted to destroy incriminating evidence by deleting ADF-related messages from his phone after the FBI contacted him.
Paul Biya has ruled Cameroon, with a population of about 31 million, since 1982, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa. It should be noted that the Alliance of Democratic Forces is a separatist military organization in Southern Cameroon that is fighting for the secession of the English-speaking region from the Central African country.
The history of the secessionist movement dates back to the early 1960s, when the British Southern Cameroons, a UN territory previously governed as part of Nigeria’s Eastern Region, was annexed to Cameroon. In 2017, Anglophone separatists launched an insurgency aimed at establishing an independent state. The conflict has killed at least 6,500 people and displaced more than 600,000 others, according to the Belgium-based International Crisis Group.
Pope Leo XIV presided over his last trip to Africa Peace meeting last Thursday With community leaders in one of the two English-speaking regions. During the Pope’s visit, the separatist groups announced a cessation of fighting for three days.
Chungag worked as a nurse at a community hospital at Fort Belvoir, according to a base spokesman. A spokesman referred questions about Chungag’s employment status to the medical center, which did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Ombako, a health care worker who is also a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Cameroon, is accused of conspiring with Chungag to financially support the ADF. She denied any affiliation with the Democratic Alliance Party when questioned by the FBI last July. An attorney for Umbako, 38, of New Carrollton, Maryland, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Fort Belvoir is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Washington along the Potomac River.
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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.