There has never been a higher level of anticipation among any jail inmates about any event which the inmates of Assam’s Golaghar district jail have. The district jail facility in Assam has a total of 512 inmates in its premises but most of them now look forward to one activity in the afternoon. The inmates have been taught to play the beautiful game of football by their fellow inmate, Nigeria’s Henry Oja Kelechi.
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The Nigerian came into the jail after he was arrested on account of not being able to renew his visa on time. The Nigerian inmate has been in jail for the past six months and has managed to get the other Indian inmates to take up the sport.
Playing football has improved the lifestyle and habits of many inmates such as Bhanu Soren who was convicted of murder. But the Nigerian has helped the Barpathar resident to find something to look forward to every day, even to an extent where the Indian talks about teaching other people to play the game when he leaves the jail.
Soren said, “Playing football makes me very happy. I will continue to play and teach others when I leave the jail.”
Henry had come to the prison in March after he was arrested for traveling without a visa. The 27-year old Nigerian comes from his country’s largest city, Lagos, where football is played by almost all children. The footballer spoke to Hindustan Times where he explained that he was busy traveling to different places in Assam in search for football coaching in schools and also at small clubs and forgot to renew his visa in the process.
The 27-year old said, “I was very upset about landing in jail. But everything changed after jail superintendent Dilip Saikia gave me a football.” The African spoke about starting the sport inside the jail authorities after the jail superintendent, Dilip Saikia, gave him a football to pass his time in the afternoon.
Henry said that he began playing in the area which was a volleyball court and once other inmates joined him in playing the sport, the jail authorities helped the inmates in utilising the area to play the beautiful game.
Jail Superintendent, Saikia, said, “We extended the volleyball court and prepared a field 60 metres in length and 35 metres in breadth. The size of the goal posts were also decreased.”
However, there were some more adjustments that were made to the game as eight teams consisting of seven players each were formed from among the inmates. These teams had the options of three additional substitutions and the playing time was reduced to two halves of 20 minutes each where the inmates would try to snatch the victory for their teams.
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On the lines of these rules, the Golaghat jail authority organised the first ever football tournament inside a jail in Assam in August where these eight teams took part. It was Team A who won the final of the Independence Cup on August 15th by defeating Team B in a nail-biting finish.
Saikia told HT, “We spent around Rs 5,000 in organizing the event. Besides a trophy to the winners, the losing side got a shield and awards were presented to the best player and goalkeeper.”
Henry’s efforts inside the jail benefitted many inmates as these were the people who had come inside the jail premises on the back of committing heinous crimes like murder and drug dealing. But the Nigerian showed all these individuals that a new hobby could see them change their lives for good. As Henry completes his six-month sentence in the jail, he will also be hoping that the inmates continue to play the game which he brought to the surroundings of Golaghat.
The 27-year old finished off by confessing that he has learned a bit of Assamese, while he had positive words for his efforts inside the jail premises. Henry said, “A lot of people feel very depressed inside jail. But it is nice to see how football has brought change among he inmates.”
