Alaafin Abiodun, the fifth Alaafin he served. Gaha was subsequently executed by Abiodun but the instability that had been brought about by these intrigues had further weakened Oyo. Alaafin Abiodun during his reign had also conducted failed campaigns against Borgu in 1783 and Nupe in 1789, losing the equivalent of 11 and 13 generals and their men respectively. Abiodun was subsequently murdered by his own son Awole, who subsequently ascended his father's throne. The events that led to the secession of Ilorin began in 1793. Ilorin was a war camp headed by the Are-Ona Kakanfo Afonja. Afonja took cause with Awole when the latter commanded him to attack Alaafin Abiodun's maternal home, Iwere-Ile. Afonja, being bound by an oath and also desirous not to fall under a curse from a previous Alaafin made to the effect that any Aare Ona Kakanfo who attacked Iwere-Ile (his paternal home) was to die miserably, refused to comply. A further cause was given in 1795, when Awole ordered Afonja to attack the market town of Apomu, a part of Ile-Ife. All Alaafins, due to the Yoruba belief that Ife was the spiritual home of the Yorubas, were previously made to swear an oath never to attack Ife. Afonja carried out Awole's order and sacked Apomu, but on the return of the army from the campaign he marched on the capital Oyo-Ile (which was itself a taboo), and demanded that Awole abdicate. Awole eventually committed ritual suicide. After the death of Awole, there was a scramble for the throne by numerous contenders; some were reported to have spent less than six months on the throne; there was also a period of interregnum of almost twenty years where the various factions could not agree on a candidate. This power vacuum led to the ascendancy of powerful military and regional commanders like Adegun, the Onikoyi and Solagberu, the Otun Are-Ona Kakanfo. Shehu Alimi, a Fulani chief who was the leader of the growing Muslim population in Oyo, also rose to power at this time. These new elements had lost regard for the office of the Alaafin due to the various political wranglings and the lack of a central authority at the time; this situation eventually led to Afonja seceding Ilorin from Oyo in 1817 with the help of Oyo Muslims. In 1823, after Afonja had been killed by his erstwhile allies Shehu Alimi and Solagberu (who was