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Cameroon is a mainly French-speaking country with an
English-speaking minority that has long complained of
marginalization.
In 2017 fighters from the two English-speaking regions began
fighting the military with the aim of forming a breakaway state,
which they call Ambazonia. The conflict has killed thousands.
The three people indicted were named as Claude Chi, 40, of Lee's
Summit, Missouri; Francis Chenyi, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota;
and Lah Nestor Langmi, 46, of Buffalo, New York, in a justice
department statement released on Monday.
They allegedly solicited and raised funds for supplies, weapons
and explosive materials to be used in attacks against
Cameroonian government personnel and security forces, it said.
"In addition to more than $350,000 the defendants raised through
voluntary donations, the indictment alleges Chi, Chenyi and
Langmi conspired with others to kidnap civilians in Cameroon and
hold them for ransom," the statement said.
"In some instances, U.S. citizens were extorted for ransom
payments to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives
living in Cameroon," it added. The ransom payments were then
transferred to separatist fighters to fund their operations.
The three defendants each held senior positions in an
organization that supported a group known as the Ambazonian
Restoration Forces and other separatist fighters in Cameroon's
Northwest region, and had been raising funds for them since
2018, the statement said.
Reuters was unable to immediately establish contact with the
Ambazonian Restoration Forces or representatives for the
defendants.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
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