ICE St. Paul assists in arresting 2 Minnesota men for funding and directing kidnappings, bombings, and killings overseas
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal grand jury has returned an eight-count indictment charging naturalized U.S. citizens Benedict Nwana Kuah, 51, and Pascal Kikishy Wongbi, 52, with organizing, directing, and financing kidnappings, bombings, and killings in their native country, the Republic of Cameroon.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad, conspiracy to provide material support or resources, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. In addition, Kuah is charged with three counts of providing material support or resources, conspiracy to commit hostage taking and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction outside the United States.
According to the indictment, the defendants are leaders of the self-proclaimed Ambazonia Defense Forces, a group of armed fighters seeking to create a new country called “Ambazonia” in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon. Kuah is the Chairman of the ADF’s so-called War Council. Wongbi is the Head of Defense, Department of Logistics and Human Resources of the War Council. The defendants directed “fighters” to kidnap, bomb, and kill ordinary civilians, government officials, and members of the Cameroonian security forces in order to coerce the Cameroonian Government into recognizing their legitimacy. Both defendants were actively involved in planning, financing, and directing attacks to intimidate and coerce the civilian population and to unlawfully influence the policy and conduct of the Cameroonian government.
“The defendants are alleged to have orchestrated heinous acts of violence abroad while residing in the United States, exploiting their status to fund and direct terror,” said ICE HSI St. Paul acting Special Agent in Charge Samuel Westbay. “HSI, alongside our law enforcement partners, will continue to ensure that our nation does not serve as a safe haven for those who seek to harm others or destabilize governments through violence and fear."
The HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the U.S., including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. Since 2003, the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center has issued more than 79,000 lookouts for potential perpetrators of human rights abuses and stopped over 390 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S.
Members of the public who have information about potential former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE or the online tip form. They can also email HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov.
Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)
