Asaba – Security has been beefed up in and around Asaba, the capital of Delta, and the host of the 21st edition of African Senior Athletics Championship (ASAC) tagged Asaba 2018.

The vehicular traffic had bee diverted from the busy Nnebisi Road leading to the Stephen Keshi Stadium, venue of the championship.

This is to ease vehicular and human movement for the of period of the competition slated for Aug. 1 to Aug.5.

NAN also reports that the last batch of contingents from Eritrea and Kenya of the 52 participating African countries arrived and completed their accreditation into the highly secured Keshi stadium.

The State Government, in a bid to encourage youths, announced free entrance for students of secondary and primary schools to watch the sports.

Mr Olukayode Thomas, the Head of Media and Publicity of Local Organising Committee for ASAC, said that Julius Yego, a former world champion in the Javelin, was leading Team Kenya to Asaba.

He said that Yego had expressed confidence in putting good performance in spite of the glitches in their travel schedule.

“Aside from Team Kenya, the remaining batches of athletes from Egypt, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, among others, all arrived Asaba on Wednesday.

“The Asaba 2018 is a record-breaking event as 52 countries will be on parade for the next five days in the newly-completed Stephen Keshi Stadium,” Thomas said.

The CAA also announced the rescheduling of the day-one activities due to some logistics challenges.

The opening ceremony was shifted from 2.00 p.m to 5.30 p.m.

NAN reports that activities for day-one kicked off at about 3.04 p.m with 100 metre women and 100 metre men.

Seated at the official opening ceremony included, Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Solomon Dalung; Gov. Willy Obiano of Anambra; host governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa; and Lord Sebastian Coe, President, International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF). (NAN)