Minnesota men indicted on charges of funding and directing violent attacks in Cameroon

A federal grand jury has indicted two Minnesotans on charges that they helped orchestrate kidnappings, bombings and attacks in the Republic of Cameroon, their native country.

Benedict Nwana Kuah, 51, of Woodbury, and Pascal Kikishy Wongbi, 52, of Ramsey, are charged with eight counts that they directed “fighters” in the Republic of Cameroon to bomb, kidnap and kill civilians and government officials as part of a broader plan for the northwest and southwest regions of the country to secede to create a new country called “Ambazonia,” according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors said the men, both U.S. citizens, served from afar as leaders of the self-proclaimed Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), sent thousands of dollars for weapons and directed the groups to carry out deadly attacks.

The men raised the money sent overseas to the fighters through social media fundraisers.

“Minnesota is not a launchpad for overseas violence,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. “Operating from the comfort of their living rooms in Minnesota, these defendants caused violence and suffering half a world away. They ordered kidnappings, bombings, and murders. Their crimes are an affront to both American law and basic human decency. Cameroon is a safer place because of this prosecution.”

The indictment details the April 30, 2022, kidnapping of a civilian government official from the country’s northwest region, in which the group forced the official to denounce Cameroon and proclaim loyalty to Ambazonia. Wongi advocated for the killing of the official, prosecutors said. The Cameroonian military rescued the individual after a month in captivity, which was followed by Kuah appearing in a propaganda video lamenting they had not been killed.

Nearly a year later, Kuah assisted in an ultimately unsuccessful plot to kill a civilian governor over the country’s northwest region. In “Operation Rattlesnake,” Kuah instructed the fighters about placement of improvised explosive devices. The fighters deployed the devices, causing the governor’s convoy to divert.

In another violent episode, two unarmed civilians were killed in a market in October 2023 after fighters claimed they had provided information to Cameroonian forces. Wongi threatened in a propaganda video that others would meet the same fate, the indictment said.

Prosecutors accused Kuah of distributing operational plans for other attacks in the region, which included a Youth Day celebration in the northwest region of the country. In February 2024, an explosive device detonated at the Youth Day event, injuring dozens of people and killing a 15-year-old girl.