Veteran Nollywood actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo, has urged the media to ensure proper verification of people’s identities before publishing any information.

Kanayo, on Tuesday, said this in an Instagram video reacting to a publication with the headline “Nollywood Actor Among Nine Alleged Kidnappers Killed in Lagos.”

The actor, who said he found the publication embarrassing to the Nigerian entertainment industry, said he had to swiftly intervene in the issue as a ‘protector’ of the industry.

Kanayo said: “My dear friends, my name is Kanayo O Kanayo. I am a Nollywood actor and a lawyer. Why I’m making this intervention is because I’m one of the protectors of the Nigerian entertainment industry in words and in deeds.

“I just read this breaking news, “Nollywood actor among nine alleged kidnappers killed in Lagos”.

“And I began to ask, who is a Nollywood actor, who is a Nollywood producer. Is it somebody as a producer who assembles some girls or boys conducting an audition, taking money from those to be auditioned, we call him a producer?

“An actor is now somebody who leaves his trade, finds Nollywood a fertile ground to foist his activities? Does an actress become a girl who sleeps with a man in the hotel, runs away with his dollars and she is announced as Nollywood actress?

“We must begin to identify who is an actress and a producer. While I commend the Nigerian Police for making our Lagos safe, please, bloggers, influencers, journalists and all, please be mindful of those you refer to as Nollywood actors or producers.

“It affects some of us who practise this trade, who depend on this. Don’t forget, there are high profile actors who have made the country proud, they have contributed to the Gross Domestic Product GDP.

“So, I once again commend the Nigerian Police and all the security agencies for all they are doing.

“So, before journalists go to publish, please let’s redefine what we call Nollywood actors and producers being involved in a crime, it affects all of us.

“I made this in good fate and believing that we can now begin to identify who is an actor and a producer, so we don’t generalise because of somebody who has entered the industry for his own reasons and has not even produced or acted.

“I want this particular person to be placed on the table of producers and tell us one or two jobs that the person has done. Thank you and God bless the entertainment industry in Nigeria. Nollywood, great.”

It was reported that the Police in Lagos, on July 5, said nine members of a notorious kidnapping gang who had plotted to abduct some wealthy persons in the state were killed during its operation at Ladipo.