‘African tribe’ evicted from ‘kingdom’ they set up in Scottish woodland

A self-styled ‘African kingdom’ who were camping on council land in the Scottish Borders has been broken up by police and immigration officials.

The trio calling themselves the ‘Kingdom of Kubala’ had been living in woods on a hillside above the town of Jedburgh since May.

One of the group live-streamed the raid on TikTok this morning.

Two members were detained after police and immigration enforcement officials moved into the camp at 8am, leading them away to vans.

The group had previously been evicted from another site close by, before setting up their latest camp on the other side of a fence.

The trio were banned from moving back to the previous encampment at a Selkirk Sheriff Court hearing yesterday.

Last week, another court order banned them from council-owned land, including the area they were residing in.

The group is led by Kofi Offeh, 36, who calls himself King Atehene, and ‘Queen Nandi,’ real name Jean Gasho, 42.

The third member is ‘handmaiden’ Kaura Taylor, 21, from Texas, who calls herself Asnat, Lady Safi.

On the live-stream, Kofi and Taylor were shown being handcuffed and led away by immigration officers before being placed in vans.

Gasho’s voice can be heard saying, ‘I love you my lord, I love you so much.’

She exclaims: ‘My king has been arrested, he is strong.’

Gasho tells Taylor: ‘Asnat I love you, you are so strong.’

The self-styled Queen keeps filming throughout the removal, saying, ‘that’s Asnat and my king gone, I’ve been here before.’

She then returns to the camp without the others, where an official can be seen trying to talk to her with a police officer in the background.

Taylor’s family has previously expressed their worry about their daughter’s new lifestyle, saying it ‘breaks our heart’.

However, attempts to make the group move from the area they call the ‘Mambaza Woodlands’ had proved unsuccessful.

They claim to be descendants of black Jacobites – black Highlanders living in Scotland more than 400 years ago. They say Queen Elizabeth I deported their ancestors, forcing them into exile, and they are now returning to reclaim land stolen from their ancestors.

Scottish Borders Council has said previously that the trio has ‘rebuffed every opportunity to engage with us’ and that ‘we can help them, but we won’t sit back and let them break the law.’ 

Scott Hamilton, who represents Jedburgh on the council, had tried to defuse tension between locals and group.

Mr Hamilton has told the BBC: ‘Yes, the group may upset us with some of their ludicrous accusations of heritage and history, and quite frankly you don’t need even a primary school education to tell you their accusations are false, but we must rise above it.

‘Whilst our history is very important to us, it’s about how our community responds – that will define us as a community.’

Metro has approached Police Scotland and the Home Office for comment.

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