'AFRICAN TRIBE' WHO CAMPED IN SCOTTISH WOODLAND EVICTED
Members of a self-styled African tribe have been evicted from their camp on council-owned land in the Scottish Borders.
The three people, who call themselves the Kingdom of Kubala, have been staying in a wooded area near Jedburgh.
The tribe streamed the eviction live on TikTok on Thursday morning. It showed a man and a woman being led from the camp by uniformed officers.
The group had previously said they were reclaiming land that was stolen from their ancestors 400 years ago and refused to recognise the powers of the courts to evict them.
A convoy of police, sheriff's officers and immigration enforcement officials moved into the camp at about 08:00. A police cordon had been in place since the early hours.
Drone footage showed a long line of uniformed officers entering the camp before the detention of two members of the group was streamed on the social media feeds Kofi Offeh, 36, a Ghanaian who describes himself as King Atehene, and "handmaiden" Kaura Taylor, from Texas, were handcuffed by immigration officers.
It is understood they have been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.
Jean Gasho, 43, who is originally from Zimbabwe and calls herself Queen Nandi, left with her head covered, lying low in the back of a pick-up truck.
The cordon was lifted at about 10:00 when journalists were allowed back into the woodland.
Council workmen could be seen dismantling the camp and throwing bags of blankets, clothes, food and drink into the back of a refuse lorry.
Mr Offeh and Ms Gasho first arrived in Jedburgh in the spring and they set up camp on a hillside above the town.
They were later joined by Ms Taylor, who calls herself Asnat.
The group have a large online presence, with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and Facebook, and have received worldwide media attention.
On Wednesday, they were banned from moving back to private land they had already been evicted from, at a hearing at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Last week, the court granted an order banning them from any council land in the area, including where they had been staying.
Jedburgh and district councillor Scott Hamilton said he was "very much relieved" by the eviction.
"It has been a long effort by the local council, police and other services to achieve this outcome," he said.
"It is the absolute right outcome today. The locals have had to put up with a great deal with this."
He added: "This is an industrial estate. There are businesses operating from here - they have been put under a huge amount of pressure over the last few months.
"We have had to work through the courts and the law process and that does take its time but ultimately we have achieved the right outcome."
BBC Scotland reporter Cameron Buttle, who was at the scene of the eviction, describes what he saw:
I arrived this morning just after 06:30 and the police cordon was already in place.
We were kept well back from the piece of woodland the group had named the Kubala Kingdom. The authorities wanted everyone well back as they moved in.
Just before 08:00 a convoy of cars and vans swept through the cordon and on down to the woods.
A local man had his drone up, I joined the crowd and watched the screen to see the police, immigration officers and sheriff officers file along a path into the trees.
Then a shout from a woman on her phone, one of the group was live streaming from inside the camp as the authorities moved in.
Everyone was then glued to their screens watching events unfold.
Eventually we were allowed down to the woods.
Inside the campsite was bare, rows and rows of black bin bags with the group's belongings spilling out.
There was nothing left of their Kingdom of Kubala.
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