A Cameroonian man who lives in Maryland faces federal charges of conspiring to support armed separatists in his home country.
A grand jury late last month indicted Eric Tataw, a 38-year-old who lives in Gaithersburg, MD.
He also goes by the nickname "the Garri Master."
Tataw is described in court documents as "a prominent member of the Cameroonian diaspora with a large social media following."
He is alleged to be a member of a separatist organization seeking the secession of regions of the central African country to become a new country called "Ambazonia."
"Armed separatist militias have formed that not only attack the Cameroonian military, but also intentionally attack the civilian population in Cameroon in order to coerce and intimidate the Cameroonian government into allowing the Anglophone [English-speaking] regions to secede from the Francophone [French-speaking] regions."
-Indictement of Eric Tano Tataw
The indictment alleges that Tataw called for violence against civilians in Cameroon, as well as against members of the government.
"The defendant is alleged to have ordered horrific acts of violence, including severing limbs against Cameroonian civilians in support of a violent secessionist movement," said the Head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Matthew Galeotti.
Tataw faces five separate criminal counts and faces a maximum of 35 years in prison.
