Army nurse accused of actively helping separatist militants in Cameroon

An active-duty Army major was arrested this week and charged with providing tactical and financial support to a separatist militant group waging a guerilla war in Cameroon. Maj. Kenneth Chungag, who was working as a nurse assigned to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, is accused of helping militants plan attacks on civilian and military targets and help procure weapons, all while presenting himself as a seasoned combat veteran, according to court documents unsealed this week.

Chungag was arrested on Monday and is facing federal conspiracy charges. He had his initial court appearances this week. The Associated Press first reported on the indictment against Chungag.

The alleged plot goes back to 2020, when Chungag was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland, and spans several years. According to the FBI affidavit, starting in 2020, Chungag began messaging with someone he believed was with the Ambazonia Defense Forces, a militant group working under the separatist Ambazonian government in exile.

Cameroon, in Central Africa, is largely French speaking but western regions speak predominantly English. Since independence from colonial rule, there has been a breakaway effort in that area. In 2017, the unrecognized government for “Ambazonia” created the Ambazonia Defense Forces, for the purpose of carrying out armed attacks against Cameroon’s government.

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Once in contact with ADF members, the court document says, Chungag allegedly sent messages that included intelligence about Cameroonian troop movements. He also included a photo of himself in uniform. He later followed that with an offer of support, saying that his “expertise on military strategy will help a lot in this Revolution and with your strategy in our present war.” It was here that he allegedly began describing himself as a combat veteran of the Iraq War. Chungag is a military nurse, most recently assigned to Fort Belvoir.

Chungag, 55, was born in Cameroon but immigrated to the U.S., joined the Army and became a naturalized citizen in 2003. He has been in the Army for more than two decades.

According to the affidavit, Chungag became a part of an ADF group chat, tracking Cameroon’s military in the western regions. The chat also included Benedict Kuah, the then-head of the ADF. Texts from the chat show Chungag suggesting the location for an improvised explosive device attack, as well as him providing U.S. Army diagrams and slides on tactics and weapons maintenance. He was eventually named “Chief of Defense Operations” on the “War Council.” According to the court documents, in 2021 Chungag was connected with Mercy Ombaku, a Maryland resident also arrested this week who is accused of being the treasurer for the Ambazonian government, to transfer money in support of the ADF. Later money would go towards purchasing Kalashnikov rifles.

In May 2024, despite pledging allegiance to the group a few months earlier, he allegedly sent messages to the war council expressing unhappiness with the ADF leadership. He tried to resign. Months later the FBI was investigating Chungag. An executed search warrant found that Chungag had deleted several messages that were found on others’ phones.

As of 2026, the ADF remains active. Since the start of the armed rebellion, more than half a million people have been displaced and more than 6,500 have been killed in the fighting, according to the International Crisis Group. Much of the western territory in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions remains contested and no country has recognized Ambazonia.