A Nigerian, Henry Oja Kelechi in Assam’s Golaghat district jail, following his arrest in March for travelling with an expired visa has inspired other inmates to find their passion in football.  For the past six months dozens of others among the jail’s 512 inmates have been learning to play football. They play bare feet.


"Playing football makes me very happy. I will continue to play and teach others when I leave the jail", said the 31-year-old from Barpathar. 

The football enthusiast from Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, claims he was busy travelling to different places in Assam for football coaching in schools and small clubs and forgot to extend his visa. 

"I was very upset about landing in jail. But everything changed after jail superintendent Dilip Saikia gave me a football," the 27-year-old said. 

Henry began playing in the small field within the jail and soon was joined by many male inmates, most of them convicted for murder and drug dealing, eager to learn the most popular sport in the world, Hindustan Times reports.