Human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has warned that the quest for Biafra’s self-determination will fail if it is anchored on lies, manipulation and bloodshed.

Ejiofor urged Ndigbo to rise above raw emotions and incendiary rhetoric, insisting that any struggle that glorifies violence or needless sacrifice ultimately turns against the very people it claims to defend.

He lamented that some actors within the South-East have continued to circulate misinformation in the name of the Biafra cause, a trend he said has inflicted “untold harm” on communities already burdened by insecurity and economic hardship.

According to him, the only sustainable path is a peaceful, disciplined and people-centred movement, guided by a “human-faced” vision of self-determination that prioritises life, dignity and long-term stability over short-term emotional victories.

Ejiofor, who holds the traditional title Dunu–Ezeugosinachi, stressed that the most dangerous effect of propaganda is not just the distortion of facts, but the erosion of independent judgment among the people.

He argued that no cause, “however noble or divinely inspired,” can endure if it is built on manipulation. Truth, he maintained, is not a hindrance to liberation struggles but their strongest foundation.

“Once a people lose the ability to distinguish truth from carefully manufactured falsehoods, they surrender the very instrument required for their progress,” he said, warning that history consistently punishes societies that trade truth for comforting illusions.

Ejiofor noted that modern conflicts are waged not only with bullets but with narratives, and that propaganda may deliver fleeting emotional satisfaction while leaving the underlying reality unchanged and often worse.

He described as encouraging the recent shift in the Indigenous People of Biafra’s internal direction under the Directorate of State led by Mazi Chika Edoziem, saying the current leadership has moved away from “the previous pattern of misinformation, propaganda and deception.”

For Ndigbo, he maintained, any genuine aspiration for self-determination must be rooted in justice, equity and the collective welfare of the people. That vision, he said, demands transparency, honesty and accountability as non-negotiable principles, without which the struggle risks losing both its moral authority and its people.