The luggage of some of Kenyan athletes who arrived Lagos since Monday for the 21st African Athletics Championships are still trapped at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport over inability to get connecting flights to Asaba.
The event which is scheduled to commence today August 1, 2018 at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State was delayed as a result of this development.
The Kenyan delegation of about 80 athletes and officials arrived in Lagos at 2pm on Monday but were unable to get a connecting flight to Asaba which is approximately 500 kilometres away from Lagos.
With no scheduled flights to Asaba Airport, organisers have to charter aircraft to ferry delegations from Lagos.
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But poor organisation has seen scores of athletes, officials and journalists stranded at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport with transfers to Asaba being handled on a first-come-first-served basis.
With the backlog going three days back, the chartered flights have been unable to meet demand with luggage either lost or misplaced in the ensuing melee.
But a close source who is on ground in Asaba covering the games, confirmed to BusinessDay that all the participating athletes for the African Senior Athletics Championships have all touched in Asaba in the early hours of today.
“I can confirm to you that all the participating athletes from the 50 countries are here already; the first batch of Kenya athletes arrived earlier and second batch arrived Asaba this morning.”
On Monday, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the 21st African Senior Athletics Championship, Solomon Ogba told journalists that the ‘few places still being perfected’ will be ready ahead of the August 1 opening ceremony at the newly completed Stephen Keshi Stadium.
