Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of the Murtala Muhamed Airport Terminal 2 in Lagos, has conferred the ‘Employee of the Month award for March’ on one of its senior aviation security personnel, Mrs. Evelyn Okosu.
The terminal operator said in a statement that Okosu won the award due to her diligence and dedication to duty when she found a passenger’s missing luggage and returned it to the owner with all the contents intact.
According to the statement, a female passenger who arrived at the terminal on December 5, 2022 forgot to pick up her bag that contained two laptops and some important documents.
Okusu who was on duty on that day found the bag during a routine security inspection, screened and kept it for the rightful owner.
The owner showed up the next day and she was given her bag, with all the contents intact.
The elated passenger, according to the statement, took to the social media to celebrate Okosu and the terminal operator.
Relating her experience with passengers, Okosu, who is a graduate of Mass Communication from Auchi Polytechnic and has served BASL for 17 years said: “I have always wanted to work in the aviation sector, but not as security officer. The job is not an easy one. The most challenging part is how some passengers treat aviation security officers, particularly when they are running late for their flight. At times they talk to you rudely, with no regard at all.”
On her encounter with the laptop owner, Okosu said when she returned the bag to her, she opened it, examined it and discovered that none of its contents was missing, she broke down in tears.
“She said the laptops, however valuable, were not nearly as important as the documents in the bag! She broke down in tears as she did not think she would ever find her bag again. I explained that … a matter of policy, any lost item within the MMA2 terminal that has not been taken by another passenger will be kept safe when found until its rightful owner claims it. She offered me money and I respectfully rejected it. I told her I was only doing my job,” Okosu said.
