Kenyan athletes scheduled to participate in the African Senior Athletics Championships are sleeping on the floor at Lagos International Airport Nigeria.Photos of the team among others from participating in the athletics showpiece have gone viral on social media.
According to reports,the Kenyan team were forced to spend the night in Lagos on Monday, after failing to secure a connecting flight to Asaba, the hosting venue.
The team had also been held up for hours, sleeping on carpets, using their travelling bags as headrests with their bodies all wrapped to prevent them from freezing in the cold.
Chaos in Nigeria 🇳🇬!
Over 300 athletes from 20 countries stuck at Lagos Airport & don’t know when they’ll head to Asaba for the African Senior Athletics Championships.
Nigeria has done a very POOR job with the organization of flights! Look at Team Uganda 🇺🇬! #Asaba2018 pic.twitter.com/u6VccK7jLh
— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) July 31, 2018
Some teams, such as Uganda, Morocco and Ivory Coast, had to spend two days at Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed International Airport after the organizers of the 2018 Africa Senior Championships got overwhelmed by the arriving visitors. With one day to go before the start of the event, many debates on social media raised questions about the various organizations that should be held accountable for the athletes circumstances.
With the start of competition at the 21st African Athletics Championships in the Delta State city of Asaba just hours away, Kenya’s athletes and officials were still held up at Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed International Airport on Tuesday.
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.
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. By 6pm yesterday, only 22 athletes had secured a flight to Asaba with the rest of close to 100 strong contingent chasing after connection tickets led by AK CEO, Susan Kamau, Vice President in charge of competition Peter Mutwii and Mutai.
“The team remains focused despite the current situation,” said Mutai, adding: “We have made the necessary arrangements to cushion our athletes from mental anguish as we seek to surpass our performance from Durban two years ago.”
A host of the participants were until late yesterday still holed up at the Murtala Mohammed Airport including Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Namibia and Benin.
Coach Julius Kirwa said: “The experience has destroyed the athletes ahead of the competition. Nigeria were not ready for these championships. We don’t know who is in charge. We haven’t even had someone from the Local Organising Committee to explain to us what is happening.”
However, the coach was full of praise for the athletes for their perseverance. “This team has shown a great deal of maturity and I want to thank them for keeping a cool head despite the challenges of missing out on lunch and ‘breaking their ribs’ sleeping on the floor.”
Even the youtube man and javelin pro Julius Yego was not speared as he took to his social media page to express his frustrations.
