NAN-H-69
Driver
By Maureen Okon
Abuja, Dec. 5, 2017 (NAN) An exemplary taxi driver, Abubakar Hassan, who returned a bag containing valuables of a passenger, has enjoined Nigerians to imbibe the culture of doing good at all times, saying that the act comes with a reward.
Hassan said this when he visited the headquarters of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Narrating his experience, the driver said that one of his passengers, Prof. Magaret Aroyi, who alighted at Giri Junction on Monday evening on her way to
Lugbe, forgot her bag.
According to him, the four passengers got off from his cab at different stops, taking their bags along with them, but Aroyi forgot one of the two bags she
had.
“It happened that all the passengers I picked were all having bags which I packed in my car trunk; the professor had two bags, one big and the other a small bag.
“So I tried looking for the owner but I could not find the person and it was getting dark, so I decided to park at a safe place to see if I could go through the bag to find a contact on how to reach the owner.
“But I could not find anything and I was scared that someone might take me by surprise; so I decided to go home.
“I told my friends and they told me that we should search well.’’
Hassan said that while searching, he discovered that the small bag had most of Aroyi’s valuables including an international passport, UBA and GTB ATM cards and gold jewelries.
Others items in the bag were her National Identity Card, N50, 000 cash, Cheque Book, laptop, driver’s License and other important documents.
He said that he later discovered that the driver’s license had her next-of-kin’s number, which was her husband.
“I tried contacting him but the man thought it was fraudsters who were trying to con him.
“Then I tried Facebook; I sent a friend request thinking she will accept me so that I will tell her, but she did not; so, I decided to let it be.
“But that made me worry because I was planning on a trip the next day to Benin.
“I thought of going to the police but later decide not to; so, I went on my trip and the next day I got a call from Aroyi asking me where I was and I told her I her was on my way to Benin and would be back in three days time.
“She told me that she would be traveling to Sokoto in the morning and I promised to make it before she left town, which I did.’’
According to him, when he returned the bag, the woman gave him 25,000 which he refused to collect.
He said the woman persuaded him to collect the money and told him that that was the beginning and that she would celebrate him.
Hassan advised Nigerians, especially commercial drivers, to develop the culture of returning lost items to the owners, because even when they kept
those items, they would not be happy in themselves.
The driver underscored the importance of being kind and having the fear of God, insisting that God rewards good deeds.(NAN)
ETIM/MNA/NKO
============
Edited by Maureen Atuonwu/Nkechi Okoronkwo