Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has urged members of the Ebira community in the state to caution their young ones against imitating the evil endeavour of kidnapping in the wake of recent abductions in the state.

Akeredolu claimed that recent reports from kidnap victims in the state have shown that several Ebira natives are now complicit in the criminal act.

He stated this during a courtesy visit by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, leadership, led by the Chairman of the Council, Leke Adegbite, to his office.

The governor said the Ebiras have coexisted peacefully with the state’s residents for many years and added that they have always been helpful and diligent.

“I want to use this medium to urge our brothers to concentrate on their farming trade. It will be unfortunate to know that the Ebiras in our midst are now involved in kidnapping.

“We are appealing to them not to copy bad things. The traders selling by the roadside should not become informants. We are not fighting them.

“We have seen their numbers, they supported and voted for us during elections. I will call their leaders and talk to them. Our brothers who were kidnapped on their way to Ikare, talk to them. They were taken to Ebira farmsteads.”