Josephine Agwu, who works as a cleaner at the
Murtala International Airport in Lagos where
while cleaning one of the toilets at the airport
on January 23rd, found a bag containing $27,000
which is 12 million in Naira equivalent.
Josephine 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.
The woman earns just N7,800 as her monthly
salary for a 12-hours a day job. Josephine, who
is from Enugu state spoke to Vanguard about
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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