WHO WAS OGEDENGBE ABOGUNGBORO?

Ogedengbe Agbogungboro was born Orisarayibi Ogundamola, in 1822 to Apasan Borijiwa and Juola Orisatomi, during the reign of Aponlese I - the Owa of Ilesha.
He was a full war general who fought in many wars one of such was the Ekiti-Parapo war. He helped liberate villages surrounding Ekiti Efon, Itaawure, and Oke-Mesi from their Ibadan oppressor.
In adulthood, Ogedengbe engaged in several campaigns against the Ibadan people who were oppressing and attacking the Ijesha people. During one of such campaigns, he was captured and taken to Ibadan.

It was on this occasion the Ibadan people put tribal marks on his face before releasing him. He fought in the Ibadan army until he became a senior military commander and then returned to fight and lead the Ijesha forces

He fought during the 1867 attack on Igbajo by llesha and a reverse attack on Ilesha by Ibadan which forced the collapse of the Ijesha army and the flight of Ogedengbe to Ita-Ogbolu. He was said to possess magical powers like transporting himself from one location to the other, or travelling a journey of months within days using kánàkó, it was reported that he would shoot an arrow from the corridors of his house and the arrow will kill enemies at the battlefield. During one of the encounters with Ibadan, a young Ibadan soldier reportedly beheaded him, ogedengbe was said to have picked up the severed part and installed it back to his body, the terrified soldier fled in terror.

After the Ekiti-Parapo war and the great trouble periods in the history of Yoruba land, Ogedengbe settled back in Ilesha, but his band of war boys could not contain themselves to the new peaceful atmosphere, they went ravaging the town, harassing and kidnapping innocent citizens.
This prompted Captain R.L Bower to arrest the war general in 1894 with his friend Prince Fabunmi, the Owa of Ilesha and Fredrick Kúmókụn Adédeji Haastrup, a member of the Ekiti parapo solidarity group in Lagos both pleaded with Governor Carter for his release, he was reportedly released for a lengthy sum of £6,000.00 sic. Ogedengbe was conferred with a chieftaincy title of Obanla of Ilesha in 1898, thus the highest mark for his gallant achievements in the Kiriji/Ekiti Parapo war. He died in 1910

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