After the Fulanis systematically captured and made Ilorin their territory, they sacked the old Oyo Empire in 1835/1636.
They had been still no longer cozy with their victory; they wished to lengthen their rule deep into the coronary heart of Yoruba land. Thus in 1840, they set to seize Osogbo, a Yoruba town. The Fulanis, underneath the command of Ali, the Hausa Balogun of Ilorin, laid siege on Osogbo.
When the king of Osogbo realized that the Ilorins have been too robust for the Osogbo army, he summoned the Ibadans for help. Ibadan straight away despatched some auxiliaries to Osogbo beneath the command of Obele alias Mobitan, and Alade Abimpagun.
As this force could now not give up the Ilorins, some other contingent used to be sent to Osogbo under an extra skilled leader. Nonetheless, the Ilorins won every conflict and gained more ground.
When Ibadan realized that the Ilorins have been turning into extra threatening to Yoruba land, they sent a giant and more suitable force under Balogun Oderinlo to crush the intruding forces and Jammas of Ilorin.
When Oderinlo and his guys arrived at the battlefield, they realized that things had gone worse than they thought.
They could now not show their faces in the open area for the worry of the Ilorin horses, and for about 20 days after they arrive at Osogbo, they may want to now not battle outdoor the city thickets.
Oderinlo recommended that Elepo, a courageous Ibadan warrior used to be badly wanted at the war- front. Elepo had been rejected by way of the war- chiefs of Ibadan for his moves at the late Agbamaja expedition.
As soon as the message from Oderinlo reached Ibadan, the Bashorun wished he may want to send Elepo to Osogbo however could not go against the desire of other war- chiefs. The Bashorun gave Elepo a cow to worship his god, Ori, and pray for the victory of Ibadan at the war- front.
At the war- front, the Ibadan may want to not attack the Ilorins in the day because Osogbo was virtually in a plain and the Ilorin horses would possibly have a gain of them with disastrous results.
They decided to attack at dusk when the Ilorins would no longer be able to use their horses. About 2: pm, the properly organized Ibadan military left the gate of Osogbo for the battlefield. They had been to hold a strict watch and arrest everyone suspected to be a spy.
About a mile from the Ilorin camp, they halted and organized the order of the attack.
The Osogbo army and the beforehand auxiliaries had been to take care of the center of the battlefield, chiefs Abitiko and Labuju have been to command the right- wing, Balogun Oderinlo with the relaxation of the Ibadan war- chiefs had been to form the left- wing of the army.
The Ilorin camp was once then attacked at midnight. The watchword was " Elo ni owo do? " (How an awful lot is the ferry fare? ).
The purpose this watchword was chosen was once because the river Osun had to be crossed in entering Osogbo from the south, and anyone who could no longer tell this was possibly to be an enemy.
Stampede engulfed the Ilorin camp as the Ibadan army set it on fire. The Ilorin could not provide the slightest resistance; they were smoked with the gunpowder of the Ibadan guns.
This assault was a success for the Ibadan. Some Ilorin war- chiefs had been captured in the attack. Prominent ones were:
Jimba the head slave of the Emir;
One of the sons of Ali the commander in chief;
Chief Lateju;
Ajikobo the Yoruba Balogun of Ilorin.
The first two were released while the latter two, being Yoruba by way of birth, had been viewed as traitors and have been executed. This was once a big victory for the whole of Yoruba land.
After the Osogbo victory,
Ibokun, an Ijesa town no longer some distance from Osogbo used to be taken using the Ibadans for being an ally of Ilorin.
After this war, Ìbàdàn later grew to become a force constructing bold hostilities equipment than later prosecuted many different wars with a resounding victory.
Notable amongst the wars was the KIRIJI WAR where the Ibadan warlords formed a historic alliance with the Igbajos. Even even though Igbajo became the struggle front for many years that the combat lasted, it was once by no means captured by the raging Ekiti parapò warriors. Rather it used to be a region the place many of them met their Waterloo.
Notable among the warriors were Fabunmi Okeemesi, Ogedengbe Agbogun gboro of the Ijesas, Apasikoto pasigegele of Igbajo, and Latoosa of Ibadan to point out a few. There were many more excellent warriors of the time.
It' s priceless to the word that the KIRIJI WAR was the closing hostilities in Yoruba land.
It' s additionally recorded as the longest native fighting in Africa.
Since then the Yoruba people have endured building robust bonds among themselves and they have sustained the peace.
We must continue to tell our adolescents the records of the Yoruba humans and the bond which our father had constructed so that we can continue to see ourselves as one.
If the Ibadan human beings can sacrifice their lives for the humans of Osogbo in different to secure other towns and villages in Yoruba land and essence the carnage of innocent human beings had been prevented, then, we the modern- day Yorubas have no cause to divide ourselves for political motives or any reason at all.
Our leaders ought to proceed to put their lives at the forefront to secure the land from all aggression.
And we have the responsibility to support, advise, and pray for all our leaders.
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