U.S court sentences Cameroonian to 5 years in prison for sending firearms to separatist fighters
By Nukapuh P.
42 – year – old Eric Fru Nji, Cameroonian-born and Maryland resident in the United States of America has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for illegally snuggling arms into the Anglophone regions of Cameroon through Nigeria.
Eric Fru was sentenced on March 21, 2023 by Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett.
While making the announcement through a press release, Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the district of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations said Eric Fru has also been fined USD 25.000 and will be supervised for two years after serving his jail term.
“Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett today sentenced Eric Fru Nji, age 42, of Fort Washington, Maryland, to 63 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for conspiracy, for transporting firearms with obliterated serial numbers, and for smuggling firearms and ammunition from the United States to Nigeria. Judge Bennett also ordered Nji to pay a fine of 25,000. Nji was convicted of those charges on May 6, 2022, along with co-defendants Wilson Nuyila Tita, age 47, of Owings Mills, Maryland and Wilson Che Fonguh, age 41, of Bowie, Maryland, after a two-week trial.”
According to the press release published by the US department of justice, Eric Fru and his conspirators have snuggled many firemas to assist separatist fighters fight the government of Cameroon since 2017. Amongst the arms listed include, sniper rifles, SKS assault rifles (some with bayonets), other rifles and several handguns.
“The evidence proved that Nji and his co-conspirators concealed the firearms, ammunition, rifle scopes, and other items in duffle bags and heavily wrapped packages inside sealed compressor units, placing those items into a shipping container destined for Nigeria. Nji and his co-conspirators communicated about their efforts and plans to ship weapons and ammunitions using an on-line encrypted messaging application and code words in order to conceal their activities,” another section of the press release state.
The press release furthered that Fonguh, Tita and seven others identified as Eric Fru’s accomplices who are charged in related cases are awaiting sentencing in the days ahead.
This comes at a time when the US is bent on assisting the government of Cameroon track down individuals who have been supporting separatist fighters from the United States.
Three Cameroonian-born US citizens Claude Chi, Lah Nestor Langmi and Francis Chenyi were also arrested in December 2022, after the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against them on November 28. The three arrested defendants were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a conspiracy to kidnap persons and use weapons of mass destruction in Cameroon.
This is a follow-up by Cameroonian lawyers in the U.S. who have filed complaints against about 200 Cameroonians and American citizens of Cameroon origin in the U.S. who are suspected accomplices to separatist activities.
