A security guard has been awarded by his company for his kind and honest gesture.
The man, identified as William Okogbue, was rewarded by Hogan Guards Limited after he returned a missing bag containing cash.
According to Okugbue, who recounted the story, he stated that in July and while on duty, he found a bag in the banking hall, picked it up and discovered some dollars inside. He revealed that he took the bag to the toilet, where he counted the money and discovered that it was US$10,000.
He added that he reported the situation to the customer service manager of the bank, who held the bag until the owner came to claim it.
On receiving the award, William Okogbue had this to say: “It is my pleasure to be in Lagos today to be celebrated. I work as a supervisor for Hogan Guards. I’ve been working in Ecobank for almost ten years. Somebody forgot their bag in the banking hall and it contained $10,000,”
“When the owner came, he introduced himself as a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Abuja to my customer service manager whom I reported the matter to. My CSM interviewed him and gave him the bag. He was very happy and he said he would take it up because he had never seen someone like me. So, he took me to the manager and here we are.”
Okugbue, who has now been appointed a full staff member at the company, was asked whether he was tempted to keep the money. See his response below:
“I am not rich but those values have been put in me. If I had taken the money, I will be in problem, Hogan Guard, Ecobank will also be in problem. When I picked the money, I took the money to the toilet, checked if it was real or fake. I said God, is this a temptation or what. I prayed to God. One part of me was telling me to take the money and run, another said I should return it. I was inside the toilet for almost one hour.
“Now, I have been given a letter of appointment as a full staff; Ecobank gave me a letter of recommendation. I feel good about it. People abused me on Facebook that I want to remain a poor man, that I should have taken the money. But my advice to people is that whatever will be your own will be, just trust God and don’t tamper with things that are not yours.”
Chukwuemeka Pindas, chief operating officer of Hogan Guards, said Okogbue displayed the core values of the organisation, adding that their efforts to be top-notch are not in vain.