Crossroad Bible Institute’s emerging satellite campus in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria recently helped organize a soccer tournament for prison inmates. Prisons in Nigeria are infamous for their lack of resources and harsh conditions, but this sporting event speaks to some of the creative ways in which chaplains are helping rehabilitate prisoners.
“Today marks the opening soccer game competition among inmates of Ikot Abasi prison,” said CBI Nigeria-Akwa Ibom’s acting director, Nsibiet Matthew, on March 16. “We have divided the entire prison population in this facility into four teams to compete.”
Other prisons in the area were also invited to play and visitors were invited to watch.
Participants were “so happy for this type of innovation in prison in Nigeria,” said Matthew, “and above all, I pray that God may be glorified in this great competition.”
Enjoy the following pictures of the game and remember Crossroad’s ministry in Nigeria as you view them:
The official kickoff
The players
The spectators (Chaplain Nsibiet in red)