Nigerian Students Reportedly Tied to Crosses and Flogged for Being Late to School

Three people have been arrested in Nigeria after at least two students were tied to makeshift crucifixes and flogged with horsewhips — an alleged punishment for being late.

The school’s principal was one of the three taken into custody after police encountered the incident on a roadside in southwestern Ogun state, the BBC reports.

Photos appear to show a boy and girl tied to wooden crosses with green string. A police spokesperson described the incident in Ayetoro, 90 miles north-west of Lagos, as “a barbaric act.”

An officer, identified as Livinus, came across the scene and called for back-up after the school’s owner tried to stop his attempts to intervene.

“When I tried to untie the pupils, the proprietor and his teachers beat me up,” said the officer, according to Nigerian newspaper Punch. “Before I returned from picking handcuffs from my car, they had grabbed a friend who was with me… and beaten him up with a horsewhip.”

The suspects include the school’s principal, owner, and a teacher, police confirmed to the BBC.