Chelsea legend Michael Essien celebrated Indonesia's Independence Day on Thursday by visiting inmates of the Lapas Sukamiskin Prison.

Indonesia, former Dutch colony, celebrated 72 years of independence yesterday.

Essien, who plays for Persib, took to social media to congratulate the Indonesians.

At the prison camp, he enjoyed the panjat pinang game for the first time – a game where men in teams of 4 try to climb to the top of a greased pole called a panjat pinang in order to retrieve prizes tied to the top in Indonesia.

According to Heru, a prison officer at the entrance said Essien entered wearing a black jacket and a blue hat.

"I thought it's a new player (Ezechiel Ndouassel) but it's Essien. He's smaller than TV," he told Heru.

Essien has scored three goals in 12 league games appearances for Persib who sit on the 10th spot with 25 points from 19 games.