Two private security officers working at Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport have been recognized and awarded for honesty in the line of duty.

The duo, a junior security guard Achi Daniel together with his supervising officer Francis Emepueaku, returned a lost-but-found bag with large sums of cash and expensive items inside, according to the country’s Federal Airports Authority. Both guards work at the multi-level car park at the Lagos airport.

Their good gesture has been commended by Nigerians across a wide spectrum, with President Buhari praising them and he is quoted as saying ”Honesty remains the best policy. We must exhibit such be behavior in whatever position we find ourselves, whether high or low. Nigeria will no longer be a byword for corruption and plundering of public resources. That is the path we have chosen to take, and our country will eventually get to a new shore.”

However, not all Nigerians were particularly impressed by the actions of these two. In an interview granted a local news outlet, the junior officer says he had been ridiculed for returning the bag instead of keeping it for himself.

Speaking to Sahara reporters, Achi Daniel had this to say ”If the money was in multi-millions of foreign currencies I would still have returned it. No amount of money would make me to take what doesn’t belong to me.”

By his own admission, the owners of the bag proposed to reward them with a cash offer but they turned down the offer, insisting they ”were just doing their job”.

Both men have been awarded education scholarships by the security company worth 250,000 Naira, according to media reports.

Neba Benson,

BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst