Kiriji war: Liberates Ekiti, Ijesa, others

•Reasons for the civil war in Yorubaland; •Kiriji War united Ekiti people — Community Leader •How Fabunmi Adesoye led Ekiti warriors to battle  •War of liberation, independence from Oyo, Ibadan; • How Oyo empire collapsed

KIRIJI War, otherwise known as the Ekiti Parapo War, was a 16-year-old civil war between the sub-ethnic kingdoms of the Yoruba people specifically divided between the Western Yoruba.

It was a war mainly between the Ibadan and Oyo-speaking Yoruba, who were the Ekiti, Ijesha, Ijebu people and others.

The war which was also referred to as the War of Liberation officially started on July 30, 1877, and ended in 1886 in the Yoruba hinterland.

The war was the longest intra-civil war in human history in Nigeria.

Reasons for the war

The main reason for the civil war was an attempt to halt the expansive efforts of the Ibadan city-state, which attempted to replace the Oyo Empire as the dominant region in Yoruba-land. Ibadan wanted a unified Yoruba nation similar to that of the Oyo Empire, while the Ekiti wanted a loose confederation of kingdoms that had existed in the Ekiti region.

The fall of the Oyo Empire, which had dominated the Yoruba region for over 500 years, left a gap in the government of Yorubaland. 

Many city-states, which were previous provinces of the empire, rose to replace the dominant Oyo Empire, including Ibadan. 

Ibadan had won the 1840 Osogbo War and the Battle of Ijaiye in 1862 and had grown in immense power, almost rising to that of its predecessor.

Kiriji war united Ekiti People — Community Leader

To commemorate the 2023 Ekiti Parapo, festival held in Okemesi-Ekiti in Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Chief Ogunniyi Morakinyo, who is the Amuludun of Okemesi-Ekiti, said: “Ekiti simply means a group of people living on the hillside, literarily means ‘Ori Okiti’ did not take themselves as one. But shortly after the war ended in 1886, Ekiti people were united which shows that the Kiriji war united the Ekiti people.”

The community leader submitted that the oppression of the Ajeles (tribute collectors) of Aare Onakakanfo, Obadoke Latoosa, the then Baale of Ibadan in Ekiti land, particularly Okemesi community in the present Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State in 1877, made legendary Fabunmi of Okemesi with his group called the Ipayes, to challenge the excesses of the Ajeles, when the war forcefully enter Ehinle shrine in the town. Such act is forbidden to non-indigenes and that precipitated the beginning of the Ekiti Parapo war of liberation.

How Fabunmi Adesoye led Ekiti warriors to battlefield 

The worshippers of Ehinle were in white attire and their role is to pray for peace and progress in the town every October during the festival. 

It was at the shrine that Fabunmi tackled the Ajeles and the leader was killed during the encounter. The incident infuriated Aare Latoosa, who thereafter sent emissaries to Oba Aponlese, with a demand for the head of Fabunmi with 50 able-bodied men, failure of which he threatened to reduce Okemesi to ashes. 

The emissaries were dealt with by Fabunmi, who ignored the threat. 

The ninth Oba of Okemesi-Ekiti, Oloja-Oke (Owa Ooye) Oba Fatimehin Aponlese, after the incident at Ehinle Shrine, ran to his brother monarch, Oore Okinbaloye in Otun-Ekiti to report the matter for an urgent solution. The relationship between Okemesi and Otun Ekiti is that the Sajuku compound in Okemesi migrated from the Ile Eyeaba Okinbaloye ruling house in Otun-Ekiti.

The Oore Okinbaloye being a great warrior that blocked the Fulani Jihadists from entering Ekiti land in Otun-Ekiti took up the matter and invited the Pelupelu Obas (Premier monarchs) in the Ekiti Confederacy Kingdoms to his palace and they strategized on how to liberate Ekiti land from the shackles of Ibadan imperialism.

After several meetings, the Ajero of Ijero Kingdom, Oba Olamiloye Oyiyosaye moved the motion to install the local Prince of Okemesi-Ekiti, Fabunmi Adesoye as Balogun, to lead Ekiti warriors to confront Ibadan warriors. 

The Pelupelu Obas supported the motion and also agreed to contribute warriors from their various Kingdoms to meet Fabunmi at Ita-Ode, now Ita- Balogun, in Okemesi- Ekiti. The first meeting point of Ekiti warriors, where the war camp was situated is the spot where the Ekiti Parapo Museum of War History, Okemesi-Ekiti is sited today.

The people of Ado-Ekiti and Ikere-Ekiti were said to have not participated in the meeting and the war but unconfirmed information has it that Aduloju of Ado-Ekiti joined Ogedengbe Agbogungboro at the war front. The name of Aduloju, as one of the warriors, was noted in a brochure of the centenary anniversary of the Kiriji war in Imesi-Ile on September 23, 1986.

 War of liberation, independence from Oyo, Ibadan

Ekiti Parapo, which means Ekiti Solidarity, is a grand alliance of Ekiti Kingdoms and other Yoruba sub-ethnic groups, such as Ijesha, Igbomina, Akoko and others, under the aegis of Ekiti solidarity to liberate their territory and people from the shackles and subjugation of Ibadan people led by the great warrior, Ajayi Ogboriefon under Aare Onakakanfo, Obadoke Latoosa.

It was a war that pitched a confederacy of Ekiti Kingdoms and Ijesha State against the tyrannical and exploitative imperialism of Ibadan.

The war took place during the reign of Aare Latoosa

The Ekiti Parapo war, otherwise known as the Kiriji war in Yoruba land, started in 1870 but the real confrontation started in 1877 during the Ehinle annual festival in the town.

The Ibadan warriors were fighting a war of supremacy to dominate Yoruba land, particularly the Ekiti land; while the Ekiti warriors, led by Fabunmi Okemesi, were fighting a war of liberation and independence from the Oyo people. 

The driving forces behind both ethnic groups made the war to be the most destructive war among Yoruba internecine wars.

 No victor, no vanquished

The end result of the war was; no victor, no vanquished at the war front but Ekiti warriors achieved their objective independence. 

The significance of the war cannot be over-emphasized as it marked the end of internecine wars in Yoruba land.

Most importantly, it opened the door of Ekiti land to Western education through the missionaries from Egbaland.

A notable example of the former slaves from Ibadan was Elder Isaac Babamuboni of Iyin Ekiti, who joined Christian missionaries to spread Christianity and Western education to Ekitiland in 1893.

The collapse of Oyo Empire

The remote cause of the Ekiti Parapo war was the collapse of the Oyo empire.

The three phases of the war were: Fejeboju, Jalumi and Kiriji. Fejeboju, which means washing the face with blood, occurred during the engagement of the combatants inside a river.

The Jalumi phase, which means fall into the water, occurred when the Ibadan warriors, set a trap for Ekiti warriors on the wooden bridge on River Otin during an ambush. 

Only Ekiti warriors, who could swim, including Fabunmi, did not perish by drowning. 

The survivors re-grouped and reinforced to resume the fighting. It was at the subsequent meeting at Oore’s palace in Otun- Ekiti that Ogedengbe was brought in to support Ekiti Parapo warriors.

Ogedengbe at first rejected the invitation because of the issues he had with Ibadan when the Ijeshas wanted to take Igbajo from Ibadan because of the suspicion that they were informants to the Alaafin of Oyo. 

During Ijesha and Igbajo war before 1866, Ibadan warriors captured Ogedengbe, who later escaped, but was warned not to engage in any war against Ibadan again. 

Fabunmi was a powerful Ifa priest, who had a horse which he used to fight; he prepared a charm called ‘Aroko’, which he sent to Ogedengbe in Ilesa through the horse. 

When Ogedengbe saw the horse with Aroko from Fabunmi Okemesi, he made up his mind to support EkitiParapo warriors, because he knew that failure to do so, the Ibadan warriors would subsequently attack Ilesa and Ile-Ife, the source of Yoruba race.

It was at the last stage of the war, between Imesi-Ile and Igbajo that Oore Okinbaloye and Ajero Oyiyosoye moved to join Faboro of Ido and other warriors at the war front. They met Ogedengbe with his warriors at the battleground. 

The war was tough. Ogedengbe captured some Igbajo warriors to support EkitiParapo warriors by force while some Igbajo warriors supported Ibadan warriors.