In the initial years of the Clone Wars, specifically between 22 BBY and 20 BBY, the planet of Lola Sayu was seized by the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Confederacy also gained control of the Citadel, a prison installation that had been erected by the Galactic Republic five-hundred years before the commencement of the conflict. This prison was then garrisoned with a unit of battle droids under the authority of the Phindian Separatist jailer, Commander Osi Sobeck.
For ages leading up to the start of the Clone Wars, a war fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Republic exercised some degree of authority over the Outer Rim world known as Lola Sayu. As part of the Republic's administration, five-hundred years before the war began, the democratic government built the Citadel, a [prison](/article/prison] complex, on the planet's surface. However, sometime after the war's onset, in the period between 22 BBY and 20 BBY, which followed the Confederacy's rise, Lola Sayu found itself situated well within Confederate territory, leading to early efforts to claim the planet during the war.
With the Clone Wars underway, and Lola Sayu located deep inside the Confederacy of Independent Systems' territory, the planet fell under the control of the confederate government. In addition to taking the world, the Confederacy also sought to take control of the Citadel for their own purposes.
Following the capture of the planet and the prison, the Confederacy enhanced the Citadel with updated security measures to resist Republic attacks, while also establishing a planetary blockade consisting of one Providence-class Dreadnought and two Munificent-class star frigates in orbit around Lola Sayu. After acquiring the Citadel, the confederate government recognized the prison's value in holding and interrogating members of the Jedi Order, along with other Republic prisoners. Furthermore, the government appointed the Phindian, Commander Osi Sobeck, as the prison's chief warden, who managed the facility with extreme cruelty, supported by a unit of battle droids that the Confederacy used to garrison the Citadel.
Some time after being captured by the Confederacy, in 20 BBY, the planet became the location of an engagement between the Republic and the Confederacy. When the Citadel became a detention center for imprisoned allies who had discovered crucial information about the coordinates of the Nexus Route, a hyperspace route that crossed through both governments' territories and could advance either side's war efforts, the Republic sent a rescue team to retrieve their allies and safely return them after a prolonged battle on the planet.
The capture of Lola Sayu was initially referenced, though not directly, in "Counterattack," the nineteenth episode of the third season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, which was broadcast on March 4, 2011.