Josephine Agwu, pictured
above, who works as a cleaner at the Murtala International Airport in Lagos,
was on January 23rd, found a bag containing $27,000 which is 5.4 million in
Naira equivalent while performing her duty.
Josephine
who earns just N7,800 per month as salary took the bag to the security post
at the airport for an announcement to be made for the owner to come forward &
collect it, which was done.
Vanguard reports why she took the decision to return the money. Read that after the cut...
Vanguard reports why she took the decision to return the money. Read that after the cut...
"I am from
Enugu State, from Obonkpa in Nsukka Local Government. I live at Agbotukunyo in
Agege. The incident happened on the 23rd of January 2015. I was on morning
duty. So as I was sweeping around 6:30pm, I saw the bag on the ground and there
were some passengers there so I thought that the bag could belong to one of
them. But as I closed at 7:20pm, the person to relieve me on duty came that
time. I was going to the toilet again, I saw the same bag there.
Then I told the
passengers sitting there that they should be mindful of the bag because once
they announce the flight they may forget it. They replied that the bag did not
belong to them. Three of the passengers left, so I then picked the bag and took
it to the FAAN security people. At first, they put the bag on the screening
machine, before they opened the bag and discovered that there were many
envelops in the bag containing money in different currencies including dollars.
As they were counting it, I saw an NDLEA woman accompanied by one man and both
of them were coming towards us.
They said that
the man could be the owner of the bag. So when they came in, they interviewed
the man and the man mentioned the amount of money and the colour of the bag.
Before then, they had counted the money and it was exactly the amount that the
man said. Then they carried the money and gave to the man for him to count.
After counting, they asked him if the money was complete, he said yes and they
snapped him picture. They asked him again about three times and they told the
man that, ‘look at the woman that picked your bag’, and the man was looking at
me. His name is Mr. Obinna Samuel. They told him that he should thank his God
that if it were another person, that person would have run away with the bag
but this woman didn’t do that. So I left and the man took the money and put
inside the bag and went away. Then FAAN security personnel called me back, and
they took my number On-Duty-Card (ODC) and my name.
That was how it
happened. People are praising me, FAAN said that they are going to give me
automatic employment but I have not heard from them till now. People should
appreciate what they have. People do a lot of bad things because they are not
happy with what they have. With the little I earn, I try to manage it well. If
I can’t manage that small money that I earn, even if I begin to earn N1
million, I will still not know how to manage it. So, I am telling every Nigerian
to be happy in any situation they find themselves. Don’t be faster than your
shadow because so many things will go wrong. Sometimes things get bad because
people want to be like others. All fin gers are not equal. It is true that God
promised those who serve him riches, but people should be careful how they go
about it. I am telling people to have pa tience. It is because people want
quick money that is why some people become thieves.
On the part of my
management, in fact they are happy, all my supervisors. In short they are doing
good things for me, even they are carrying me like egg, even my MD. They have
added money to my salary. In short, my manager, Madam Eunice has been doing
many things for me since the incident, praising me. She said that she knows
that she can trust me, and that I cannot see anything that does not belong to
me and I take it away" she said
Josephine
says for showing such a remarkable decision, her company has decided to
increase her salary from N7,800 to N15,000 monthly and also the management of
FAAN has promised to make her a permanent staff
"FAAN
(Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) said that they are going to give me
automatic employment, but I have not heard from them till now. On the part of
my management, they are happy, all my supervisors. In short, they are doing
good things for me. Now, they carry me like egg, even my MD.” she said
Meanwhile
the Lagos state House of Assembly on Monday February 22nd at its plenary
session decided to invite Josephine to the House to honor her for her honesty.
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