History of the Yoruba people military capital of Ilorin, and then sacked and destroyed Ọyọ-Ile, the royal seat of the Ọyọ Empire. Following this, Ọyọ-Ile was abandoned, and the Ọyọ retreated south to the present city of Oyo (formerly known as "Ago d'Oyo", or "Oyo Atiba") in a forested region where the cavalry of the Sokoto Caliphate was less effective. Further attempts by the Sokoto Caliphate to expand southwards were checked by the Yoruba who had rallied in defence under the military leadership of the ascendant Ibadan clan, which rose from the old Oyo Empire, and of the Ijebu city-states. However, the Oyo hegemony had
Yoruba people 60,000 in Niger. In the Ivory Coast, they are concentrated in the cities of Abidjan (Treichville, Adjamé), Bouake, Korhogo, Grand Bassam and Gagnoa where they are mostly employed in retail at major markets. Otherwise known as "Anago traders", they dominate certain sectors of the retail economy. The Yorubas are the main ethnic groups in the Nigerian federal states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Kwara, Oyo, the western third of Kogi and the Akoko parts of Edo. The chief Yoruba cities or towns in Nigeria are: Abẹokuta, Abigi, Ado-Ekiti, Agbaja, Ago iwoye, Akungba-akoko, Akurẹ, Atan-otta, Ayetoro, Ayetoro gbede, Badagry, Ede,