A federal grand jury in Baltimore has returned an indictment charging a Cameroonian national residing in Maryland, Eric Tataw, also known as ‘the Garri Master’, 38, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, with conspiring to provide material support to armed separatist militias in Cameroon and threatening violence against Cameroonian civilians.
He surrendered and will make his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson today.
According to court documents, multiple armed and violent secessionist groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon are fighting to form a new country called ‘Ambazonia’.
The armed separatist militias sought to achieve secession by not only attacking the Cameroonian military but also intentionally attacking the civilian population in Cameroon in an attempt to force the Cameroonian government into allowing these regions to secede.
These separatist fighters are frequently referred to as ‘Amba Boys’.
“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 Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Tataw and his co-conspirators masterminded and financially supported a vicious scheme to overthrow a foreign government. They resorted to an unthinkable level of violence while instilling fear in innocent victims to advance their political agenda,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland.
As alleged in the indictment, Tataw was a citizen of Cameroon living in Maryland and was a member of the Cameroonian diaspora with a large social media following. Beginning in April 2018, Tataw and others sought to raise funds for the Amba Boys to finance violent attacks in Cameroon.
Tataw also allegedly called for the murder, kidnapping, and maiming of civilians and the destruction of public, educational, and cultural property in Cameroon. Tataw and his co-conspirators allegedly directed the maiming of Cameroonian civilians by severing their limbs, a practice Tataw called ‘Garriing’.
Tataw allegedly used the phrase ‘small Garri’ to refer to removing fingers or other small appendages, and the phrase ‘large Garri’ to refer to removing large limbs or killing people.
Additionally, Tataw allegedly referred to himself as the ‘Garri Master’, or master of mutilation.
Tataw and his co-conspirators allegedly targeted those believed to be working for or collaborating with the government, including municipal officials, traditional chiefs, and employees of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), a public company that grew, processed, and sold bananas, palm oil, and rubber.
As alleged, Tataw personally wrote hundreds of social media posts on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter calling for attacks against Cameroonian civilians, seeking to raise funds to arm Amba Boys, and threatening those he viewed as cooperating with the government of Cameroon.
These social media posts were regularly viewed by tens of thousands of people, including Amba Boys and their leaders, and were often further disseminated by third parties allegedly acting at Tataw’s direction or encouragement.
Tataw is charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support and four counts of interstate communication of a threat to harm. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on the material support count and five years on each count of communication of a threat to harm.
