The Kiriji War (1877-1893)

The Kiriji/Ekiti parapo war was a sixteen- year conflict that broke out mainly between Ibadan and the combined forces of Ekiti and Ijesha. According to Latisosa, “the kiriji war ended all wars in Yoruba land”. The Kiriji/Ekiti parapo war was inarguably the last and the most protracted war that plagued the Yoruba nation. The war broke out because of the unaccepted policies and type of administration Ibadan established after her significant role in the 1840 Osogbo war and her victory over the Ijayes in 1962 which indisputably pronounced her as the competent successor of old Oyo as the head of Yoruba land.

Ibadan had stationed its administrators in other parts of Yoruba land especially in Ekiti and Ijesha which upset the two towns who were not ready, like any other town, to accept Ibadan as the Yoruba head. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the suppressive way the administrators manhandled the towns. It was said that they harassed young men and had sexual affairs with the women. The Ekitis and Ijeshas who could no longer tolerate the immoral acts of the administrators killed many of them and waged war against Ibadan. Other Yoruba states soon join sides in the war. Egba and Ijebu joined in favour of the Ekitis and Ijeshas, and attacked Ibadan from the south, while the combined forces of Ekiti and Ijesha who allied with the Fulanis attacked Ibadan in the north. Ife also joined the war on the side of the Ekitis and Ijeshas. Ibadan alone was fighting five fronts.

On November 1 1878, Ibadan clashed with the allied forces of Ekiti, Ijesha and the Fulanis of Ilorin in the north east of modern day Osun state. The allied forces were seriously defeated and chased back to their camps. This encounter was known in history as ‘Ogun Jalumi’ (Battle of Waterloo) or the 1878 Battle of Ikirun.

Ibadan blockaded the Ekitis from transporting ammunitions through Ibadan land, but the latter soon discovered another route through Ondo from Lagos. “The Ondo road had been opened up by the British because of the frequent closure of other roads” (Akintoye, 1969). The kiriji war also strengthened the conflict between Ife and Oyo settlers at Modakeke who supported the Ibadans. Ife was later sacked by Modakeke with the help of the Ibadans.

It should be noted that ‘Kiriji’ was an onomatopoeic name given to the war from the thunderous sound of the cannons the Ekitis and Ijeshas, under the command of Ogedengbe, purchased in abundance which also gave them an advantage over Ibadan.

However, in 1886, Governor Carter started a peace move between the two dueling factions which was unfruitful in fact, until the British expedition on Ijebu in 1892 in which Ijebu fell to the British’s maxim guns and seven-pounder rockets. In 1893, Governor Carted was able to successfully impose peace on both warring sides. It was said that Governor Carter trekked all the way from Lagos to the camps of both sides in Igbajo and Okemesi where he persuaded both the Ibadans and Ekitis to return to their homes. They were made to sign a treaty which formally turned the mighty kingdom of the Yorubas into one of the British protectorates Britain skillfully annexed in West Africa.

References:
* A Textbook Of West African History; E. Ola Abiola- May 1974

* Ogunniyi Morakinyo; Ekiti Parapo liberation war : (Kiriji War 1877-1886); Okemesi-Ekiti : Kayegbo Communications; 2006.

Image Credit:
* Ogedengbe.com