Ilorin slave raids on northern Ekiti (c. 1820–1840)#
After the 1817 Afonja revolt at Ilorin, Fulani cavalry raid southward through Otun, Ikole and Iye-Ekiti for slaves and tribute. Iye-Ekiti is sacked c. 1827; Itaji and Obo-Aiyegunle lose populations to relocation atop their *okiti* hills. The raids accelerate the collapse of Old Oyo's eastern frontier and bring Ekiti within Ibadan's defensive umbrella by the 1840s.
The Ibadan *Ajele* occupation (1854–1877)#
For 23 years, Ibadan posts *Ajeles* (resident overseers) in every major Ekiti town to extract tribute, conscript war-labour and seize women. Ekiti oral history records the period as *iyà àjèlé* — "the torment of the overseers". Ado-Ekiti, Ikere, Otun and Ijero are particularly burdened. The 1877 murder of the *Ajele* at Iyin-Ekiti is the trigger for the Ekitiparapo confederation.
★ Kiriji War (1878–1893) — *Ekiti Parapo War*#
The longest war in Yoruba history (16 years). The Ekitiparapo confederation — 16 Ekiti crowns + Ijesa + Akoko + Igbomina under Ogedengbe of Ilesa and Fabunmi of Oke-Mesi — faces Ibadan forces under Aare Latoosa, Balogun Ajayi Ogboriefon and Balogun Ilori in entrenched lines on the Kiriji / Igbajo plateau. The introduction of Snider-Enfield breech-loaders procured by the Lagos *Ekitiparapo Society* gives the alliance fire-parity for the first time. Casualties across all sides are estimated at tens of thousands (no formal census). Peace is brokered by Governor Gilbert Carter: • 23 September 1886 Treaty (Lagos) — formal cease-fire; arms surrender at Ada. • 18 February 1893 Treaty — final settlement; Ibadan withdraws all *Ajeles*; Ekiti restored to sovereignty under British protection. The war reshapes Yoruba political geography and accelerates British penetration of the interior. See Yoruba Civil Wars.