VIRGINIA — U.S. Army Maj. Kenneth Chungag, a nurse stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, was arrested Monday on federal charges of conspiring to provide financial and tactical support to separatist fighters in his native Cameroon, according to court records. Co-defendant Mercy Akwi Ombaku was arrested the same day on related conspiracy charges.

Chungag, a 50-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, is accused of providing his military training and experience to assist the Ambazonia Defense Forces, according to an FBI affidavit. He is also accused of plotting with Ombaku to transfer money from the United States to Cameroon for the purchase of AK-47 assault rifles.

A magistrate judge ordered both defendants released from custody after their initial court appearances in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors did not seek pretrial detention. Defense attorney Robert Jenkins said Chungag was "greatly dismayed by these charges and looks forward to a timely and just resolution of the matter."

According to the affidavit, Chungag was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland in 2020 when he first expressed interest in assisting members of the Ambazonia Defense Forces. In online chats with group members in Cameroon, he falsely claimed to have combat experience in Iraq. Investigators believe he withdrew from the group in 2024, when FBI agents also questioned him about his activities related to the organization. Investigators further believe he attempted to destroy incriminating evidence by deleting related messages from his phone after being contacted by the FBI.

Ombaku, a 38-year-old healthcare worker and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Cameroon who lives in New Carrollton, Maryland, denied any affiliation with the group when questioned by the FBI in July 2025. She is charged with conspiring with Chungag to provide financial support to the organization.

Chungag has worked as a nurse at a Fort Belvoir community hospital, according to a base spokesperson. The installation is located about 20 miles south of Washington along the Potomac River.

The Ambazonia Defense Forces is a separatist military organization in southern Cameroon fighting for the Anglophone region to break away from the central African country. British Southern Cameroons, a former United Nations trust territory previously governed as part of Nigeria's eastern region, was joined with Cameroon in the early 1960s. In 2017, English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion aimed at establishing an independent state. The conflict has killed at least 6,500 people and displaced more than 600,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group.