Eviction of 'tribe' from Scottish woodland camp begins

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Getty Images A dark-haired woman with a brown top and red head band looks towards a man with a red top, facial paints and beaded head bands. Both are seated in front of a red tent

Attempts to remove a self-styled "African tribe" from privately-owned land have begun in the Scottish Borders.

Police and sheriff officers have arrived at the camp where three members of the self-proclaimed Kingdom of Kubala living in woodland near Jedburgh for several weeks.

They said they were reclaiming land that was stolen from their ancestors 400 years ago - but the local council said they were breaking the law.

The eviction order was issued by Sheriff Peter Paterson last week after the group ignored a previous instruction to leave their encampment.

The "tribe" has a growing online presence, with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and Facebook, and has received worldwide media attention.

The three members of the tribe, dressed in knitted jumpers and robes with tribal jewellery, stand next to two blue tents in the woodland.

Ghanaian Kofi Offeh, 36, and Jean Gasho, 42, who is originally from Zimbabwe, first arrived in the Jedburgh area in the spring.

Describing themselves as King Atehehe and Queen Nandi, they set up camp on a hillside above the town in the Scottish Borders.

They were joined by "handmaiden" Kaura Taylor, from Texas, who calls herself Asnat.

The group claimed ancestral rights to land and insisted that the Kingdom of Kubala had been born.

Scottish Borders Council initially evicted the trio from the hillside site above Jedburgh in July.

But rather than leave the area, they moved about a mile further out of town to a woodland next to an industrial estate.

Mr Offeh has previously said he was "not afraid" of the warrant for their eviction.

Map showing location of Jedburgh, south-east of Edinburgh

The land's owners, David and Mary Palmer, successfully applied to the courts for the tribe to be evicted.

However, Scottish Borders Council said they had failed to comply with an order to leave the land by 17:00 on Monday.

Jedburgh councillor Scott Hamilton said last week that the group were breaking the law by taking up residence on someone else's land.

He said the landowner had been left with "no option" but to seek an order from the sheriff.

Mr Hamilton, deputy leader of the council, said it was disappointing - but not surprising - that the group had ignored the ultimatum to leave the site.

"They have rebuffed every opportunity to engage with us," he said.

"We can help them, but we won't sit back and let them break the law."

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