From 1877 to 1893, the Yoruba people of Western Nigeria engaged in the longest tribal conflict in contemporary history. Ibadan and the combined troops of Ekiti and Ijesha fought each other for 16 years in what is known as the Kiriji or Ekiti-Parapo War. In Yoruba territory, it was the war that put an end to all others. The war was dubbed “Kiriji” in an onomatopoeic way because of the booming sound of the cannons that the Ekitis and Ijeshas, led by Ogedengbe, acquired in large quantities to give them an advantage over the armies of Ibadan. But it came to a standstill. Consequently, the Kiriji War continues to be the longest civil war in history involving any West African ethnic group.
The tribes of southwest Nigeria are indeed the only race in contemporary history to have fought civil wars against one another for 73 years (1820-1893).
