Kofi Offeh, who called himself King Atehene and led the self-styled ‘Kingdom of Kubala’, has been deported back to Ghana after a Scotland immigration case that saw his group evicted from a Scottish Borders woodland
A man who headed a self-proclaimed ‘lost African tribe’ in Scottish woodland has been deported, the Home Office has confirmed.
Kofi Offeh – who goes by the title King Atehene – became embroiled in a bitter legal dispute last year with local residents, police and the local council after establishing camp near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders.
Dubbing themselves the Kingdom of Kubala, the trio – including one woman he called his ‘Queen’, and another his ‘handmaiden’ – declared themselves ancient heirs to the land and descendants of ‘Black Jacobites’ who were promised the territory 400 years ago.
They refused to vacate the area for around four months, and were removed in October following a dramatic police operation.
Tonight, the Home Office confirmed that Mr Offeh has been deported back to Ghana. This follows local media footage showing him touching down at Kotoko international airport in the capital Accra earlier this week.
One video filmed shortly after his arrival showed him once again declaring himself a “King” and vowing a “new wave of the Kingdom of Kubala”, reports the Mirror.
He told the camera: “All the police are going to serve me, all the chiefs are going to bow before me, if you have a president, he will have to kneel before me”.
Mr Offeh, 36, resided at the camp in Scotland with 43-year-old wife Jean Gasho, who referred to herself as “Queen Nandi”, and a third member, 21-year-old Kaura “Asnat” Taylor, who informed her social media followers she was an “inferior mistress” and a “surrogate for the queen”.
Ms Taylor, from Dallas, Texas, was freed in October after being detained by immigration enforcement. The Scottish Borders Council initially expelled the trio from a privately-owned camp on a hillside overlooking Jedburgh in July.
Rather than departing the area completely, the group simply moved roughly a mile outside of town, establishing themselves in a patch of woodland beside an industrial estate.
Following sheriff officers ejecting them from their second makeshift camp, they relocated onto property belonging to the Scottish Borders Council situated a few metres away.
The council launched legal proceedings through the courts to remove the ‘tribe’, who were eventually evicted last October during a joint early-morning operation conducted by police, sheriff officers, and immigration enforcement.
All three were witnessed being escorted away from the area, with council workers later observed throwing bags containing blankets, clothing, and food supplies into a bin lorry.
Ms Taylor was held by immigration officers during the operation but was subsequently freed, while Ms Gasho (Queen Nandi) departed the scene separately in a pickup vehicle.
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