'Lost African tribe' camping in UK woods stays put despite being handed deadline

A self-styled 'African tribe' camping in remote Scottish woodland are staying put - despite an eviction notice from the local council.

The so-called Kingdom of Kubala was ordered to vacate the land on the outskirts of Jedburgh by midday on Monday after Scottish Borders Council began legal action to evict them. The group had previously been staying on private land only a few metres away.

They then simply set up a new camp on council property when sheriff officers were sent in. The tribe, which has a sizeable presence on social media, consists of leader Kofi Offeh, 36, who calls himself King Atehene.

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His wife Jean Gasho, 43, dubs herself Queen Nandi along with their 'handmaiden' Kaura Taylor, known as Asnat. The trio sat around a campfire on Monday afternoon singing songs with a number of tents and other camping equipment still on the site, showing no intention of leaving.

The handmaiden said the king would not be speaking to the media unless gifts were brought to him. Taylor, 21, had left her family in despair after fleeing Dallas in Texas with her one-year-old daughter before resurfacing as part of the tribe.

It is understood the council will shortly seek an order from a sheriff to remove the trio now that the deadline has passed. Last Tuesday, sheriff officers carried out the eviction from their previous campsite, though they simply set up a new camp on the other side of a small fence.

They had been camping near Jedburgh for the past few weeks and have ignored previous ultimatums to leave. Scott Hamilton, the Conservative deputy leader of Scottish Borders Council, said they will not give up until the issue has been resolved.

“Nobody is above the law and no matter how long this takes you can be guaranteed we will not cease,” he said He added that the group had repeatedly failed to engage with the council and legal proceedings which would enable an eviction had begun.

Offeh said he is descended from “the Messiah” and that his group live by what they call the laws of their God, Yahowah, rejecting UK legal authority entirely. The three members previously said they are reclaiming land that was stolen from their ancestors 400 years ago.

They claim their mission is to re-establish a kingdom wiped out in 1596, when Queen Elizabeth I reportedly expelled “black Jacobites” from England. Responding to suggestions his “fantasy” is coming to an end, Offeh said denied that it was ever a fantasy.

"We walk through prophecy and we live it as it comes,” he added. While Gasho said: “We’ve already been to jail for loving our children, do you think chains frighten us?”

In a post on Facebook on Friday, they wrote: “The Kingdom of Kubala can never be destroyed.” Offeh had previously said following an eviction order: "The creator of the heavens and the Earth is with us. We’re not afraid of whatever the so-called court has granted. Let them do their worst."

A spokesman for Scottish Borders Council said: “The legal process to remove the occupants from the council’s land has commenced and officers will proceed through the next steps as quickly as possible.”