Eric Tano Tataw has been federally indicted for allegedly financing and directing a violent separatist campaign in Cameroon from his home in Montgomery County.
Tataw, 38, is accused of raising more than $110,000 to arm a brutal militia group called the Amba Boys, and calling for attacks on civilians — including orders to cut off fingers, limbs, and kill those viewed as cooperating with the government.
Tataw, a Cameroonian national living in Maryland, allegedly used social media to threaten, fund, and promote violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, where armed separatists are trying to form a breakaway nation called Ambazonia, according to court documents.
Beginning in 2018, investigators say Tataw posted hundreds of messages across Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to tens of thousands of followers, calling for murder, kidnapping, and what he described as “Garriing” — a term he used for severing body parts.
Tataw called "small Garri" the removal of fingers or small appendages, and "large Garri" the removal of limbs or murder, court records state.
He allegedly encouraged attacks on government workers, chiefs, and employees of the state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation, and claimed responsibility for killings and kidnappings committed by Amba fighters.
One of his major fundraising efforts, dubbed the “National AK Campaign,” aimed to provide every Amba fighter with an AK-47 rifle. Federal officials say he sent funds and equipment to armed separatists in both Cameroon and Nigeria.
"Although residing in Maryland, Tataw is alleged to have played a significant role in promoting violence and human rights violations in Cameroon by supporting a separatist movement," HSI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy said.
"These groups have been linked to heinous crimes against civilians, and this case highlights how such atrocities can be financed and directed from afar."
Tataw is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations and threatening communications to injure or kidnap civilians.
The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Baltimore on Thursday, May 1.
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