A U.S. Army major employed as a nurse on a military base near Washington has been charged with conspiracy aimed at supporting separatist fighters in Cameroon, according to federal court records unsealed earlier this week. The case centers on Maj. Kenneth Chungag, a nurse who lives and works on Fort Belvoir in Virginia, and on allegations that he sought to help the Ambazonia Defense Forces, a separatist armed group in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.
Court records described the charge as a plot involving both money and training experience. The filings accuse Chungag of using his military training and experience to assist the ADF. Prosecutors also alleged that Chungag conspired with Mercy Akwi Ombaku, a Maryland resident, as part of a plan to transfer money from the U.S. to Cameroon for the purchase of AK-47 assault rifles, according to the same records.
The government alleged that Chungag’s involvement included activity over time, beginning before the charges were filed. In 2020, the FBI affidavit said Chungag was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland when he first expressed interest in assisting ADF members. The affidavit also said Chungag falsely claimed in online chats that he had combat experience in Iraq, a detail prosecutors cited as part of how he tried to raise his profile in the group.
According to investigators, Chungag later withdrew from the organization in 2024. The FBI affidavit said that after withdrawing, he was questioned by FBI agents about his ADF-related activities later that year. Prosecutors further alleged he attempted to destroy incriminating evidence by deleting ADF-related messages from his phone after the FBI contacted him.
Chungag and Ombaku were arrested on federal conspiracy charges on Monday and made initial court appearances in Alexandria, Virginia. A magistrate judge ordered them released from custody after those first appearances, and prosecutors did not seek their pretrial detention, according to the court records described in the case reporting.
Chungag, described as a 50-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, was represented by defense attorney Robert Jenkins, who told The Associated Press in an email that Chungag is “greatly dismayed by these charges and looks forward to a timely and just resolution of the matter.” The reporting also said Chungag has worked as a nurse at a Fort Belvoir community hospital, citing a base spokesperson, who referred questions about his employment status to the medical center.
Ombaku, a healthcare worker and naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Cameroon, was also charged as a co-defendant. The filings said she denied having any ADF affiliation when FBI agents questioned her last July. An attorney for Ombaku, described as 38 and of New Carrollton, Maryland, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, according to the same case account.
The allegations touch on a long-running conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. The reporting said Cameroon, with a population of roughly 31 million, has been ruled by President Paul Biya since 1982. It said the separatist movement traces to the early 1960s, after the British Southern Cameroons—previously governed as part of Nigeria’s eastern region as a United Nations trust territory—was joined with Cameroon, and that fighting escalated in 2017 when English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion aimed at establishing an independent state.
The court case also comes amid international efforts to reduce violence in the conflict. The reporting said Pope Leo XIV, during a recent Africa trip, presided over a peace meeting with community leaders in one of the two Anglophone regions, and that separatist groups announced a three-day pause in fighting during the pope’s visit. Fort Belvoir is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Washington along the Potomac River.