Players:
Warri
Olu Ijijen (1510 to 1538)
Olu Irame (1538 - 1570)
Benin
Oba Orhogbua
{1550AD-1578AD}
Mahin
Olague/Alagwe (unknown)
Outcome; Benin and Warri victory.
Well, it started around the reign of Olu Ijijen after the death of the first Olu of Warri, Olu Ginuwa. One of his sons, Ijijen, went to Ode Itsekiri where he was welcomed. During his walk into the capital, he saw faces frowning and he asked what the problem is. The people said they can’t be paying taxes to two masters and they can’t have two kings. Olu Ijijen said, 'Take me to this man whom they call master.' When he got to Olague's house, he said, 'I am Olu Ijijen, ruler of Iwere. I have come to let you know the people of this region are now under my rule and so all taxes being paid to you as of this moment have stopped.'
Olague didn’t say anything or reply to his words. He went inside his house, in his quarters in Ode Itsekiri. When the Olu was going back, Olague's warriors shot an arrow against the king, which scratched his shoulder. Olu Ijijen was prepared for something like that. He took his few men and took down Olague's warriors, but unfortunately, Olague escaped the capital and ran away. The Itsekiris were happy and said Olague had been a tyrant, forcing them to pay taxes. The Itsekiris being happy gave the Olu the title Ogbowuru.
But Olu Ijijen's injuries from the fight never healed. He died years later without an heir because of his condition from the fight. His brother, Olu Irame, took over as Olu of Warri. During one of his coronation anniversaries, he heard of the Olagues having a kingdom that is expanding and giving troubles to the Itsekiris in Benin River. Olu Irame wanted revenge and also that the Oba of Benin is tired of them.
The Mahins and the Benin kingdom had a disagreement about power balance, which made the Mahins attack the Benin kingdom communities close to the river banks. They also attacked Itsekiri communities close to the river banks. Those communities were under the kingdom of Warri at the time (whether they knew that some of the communities they attacked were Itsekiris or they didn't, it's not known).
The Oba of Benin planned a land invasion. The Olu of Warri, being angry at the attack on his river communities and his hatred for Olague, sent a message to the Oba. Olu Irame told the messengers to tell his cousin, the Oba of Benin, that he should prepare for war against the Mahins, that he will gather his forces, and both their strength will crush Olague.
The war would have been won by the Mahins because the Oba could not have been successful, as the Mahins had naval forces, something the Benins didn’t have. Their navy planned to use the large army out of Benin kingdom to attack Benin through the river, that would force the Oba to retreat and would put the Oba in the middle of the war, getting attacked from two battlefields. But the Mahin’s navy was destroyed by the Warri Fleets.
“Certainly the kingdom of Warri in the Delta region was more a naval power than anything else, for a visitor of the mid-seventeenth century believed that it had an army of 60,000 (probably an exaggeration),"(Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800
By John Kelly Thornton).
The Warriors of Warri took control of the sea and invaded through the shores of mahin kingdom. That gave an opportunity to the Oba after he heard his cousin is attacking from the riverside. This put the Mahin warriors in the middle of the battlefield. Most of them scattered and their citizens were displaced and ran away.
When the Olu pushed more into the battlefield and saw the Oba of Benin bathing with the blood of the citizens and warriors of the Mahins, he didn't like what he saw. He stretched his left hand to the sky and used his right hand to point to the boats at the sea shores. The warriors of Warri fighting stopped immediately, seeing the beads of their king pointing to the sky and the sea shores. This meant to leave the battlefield immediately. The Warri kingdom forces pulled away from the war and went back to the Itsekiri communities that were attacked, and there, after, left to Warri kingdom capital (Ode Itsekiri).
The Oba of Benin, having learned his cousin left like that, was angry. He lost a lot of manpower. The Olu of Warri later sent some loot he got from the war to the Oba of Benin so he doesn't misunderstand his retreat from the war.
Olague had already escaped to what is now known as Lagos. The Olu wasn't interested in chasing him further, but he sent the Oba of Benin 3,000 fleets, which paddled the Oba to what is known today as Eko. They were welcomed by the Awori’s who were already aware of their coming. The Aworis told them that, in order to catch Olague, they needed to station themselves in two entry points of the area.
The Aworis gave the Oba a place where he stationed himself at Eko. The Itsekiri's military were given a place where they camped at Epe, and also where they found Ijebu-speaking people. The Aworis joined in the search for Olague, then came back to tell the Itsekiri warriors that Olague was already dead. They sent word to Warri about what they were told, but the Olu of Warri told them that even if Olague is dead, he wants his head. So the soldiers remained in Epe.
The Oba of Benin went back without the Itsekiri escorts in a rush, after he heard there was a coup attempt back in Benin to dethrone him. But he was attacked by the Mahins/Ilaje, where he was drowned and killed. His son, Ehengbuda, was crowned the new Oba who wanted to take revenge against the Mahins/Ilaje but failed in doing so and also died.
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