A foremost Nigerian actress, Eucheria Anunobi has described the increasing kidnapping of Nigerian actors as a major setback to the movie industry and government's re-branding campaign.

Anunobi told newsmen in Owerri Sunday that kidnapping was destroying the efforts Nigerian actors made in the last 15 years trying to uplift the country's image battered by the fraudsters notoriously called "419"

Actor Pete Edochie was kidnapped a few months ago and letter relased and the most recent is Nkem Owoh, who has yet to be released by the abductors.

She said."The Nigerian actors have been doing a great work in the last 15 years trying to uplift the image of the country; this kidnapping thing is scaring.

"It is only trying to stunt or stop us from the re-branding which the movie industry has been doing in the last 15 years.

"We want to re-create our image, the image of our country, by kidnapping actors or stopping them from doing this means that the devils are at work.

"Our efforts of washing off the battered image that we've always had, for me it is beyond asking for money, we are trying to kill a national dream."

Anunobi said that many Nigerians were no longer being seen as "419iers", but rather as Africans who are doing movies almost competing with the Americans and Indians and slowly that reference of fraudsters are trying to be wiped away.

"It is terrible now that the people who are pioneering the washing of our image have become targets of kidnappers, we don't have money if is their reasons," Anunobi said.

She urged government to come to the aid of the youths by providing them with jobs, stressing that" an idle mind is a devil's workshop".

She said that making laws or legislation would never solve kidnapping accept government created employment for the youths.