Three men have been charged by the US Justice Department with providing financial support to separatists in Cameroon.
The three US citizens of Cameroonian descent were detained on Monday and charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destructions abroad and offer material support for kidnappings when they appeared in court.
Claude N. Chi, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Francis Chenyi, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lah Nestor Langmi, 46, of Buffalo, New York, all of whom are U.S. citizens of Cameroonian origin, are charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 18, 2022. The indictment was unsealed and made public today following their arrests and initial court appearances.
According to the Justice Department, each guy held a top position in a group that backed and oversaw the Ambazonian Restoration Forces.
They allegedly solicited and raised funds for equipment, supplies, weapons and explosive materials to be used in attacks against Cameroonian government personnel, security forces and property, along with other civilians believed to be enabling the government.
According to a statement from the government, the money was raised from people in the US and overseas via online chat programs and payment platforms.
The indictment asserts that Chi, Chenyi, and Langmi plotted with others to kidnap individuals in Cameroon and hold them for ransom in addition to the more than $350,000 the defendants raised through voluntary donations. In certain cases, American citizens were demanded to pay ransoms in order to free their kidnapped relatives who were based in Cameroon. The separatist forces then received the ransom money to support their operations.
The indictment claims that the defendants wrote a document that listed expenses for ammunition, guns, and improvised explosive devices, IEDs. Additionally, money was spent on the kidnapping of Sehm Mbinglo II, a traditional leader from Cameroon, and Cardinal Christian Tumi on November 5, 2020.