A Nigerian-Australian woman, Binta Abubakar, has been apprehended by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for allegedly deceiving students from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and forcing them into unpaid agricultural labour in Queensland, under the pretext of awarding them educational scholarships.
The 56-year-old was taken into custody on Wednesday at Brisbane Airport upon arriving from PNG, where she was primarily operating.
Her arrest is the result of a two-year investigation led by the AFP’s Northern Command Human Trafficking Team, which began in July 2022 after receiving a tip-off from Queensland Police.
According to the AFP, “A group of PNG nationals who had moved to Australia to study were instead allegedly forced to work against their will on farms.”
Abubakar, who holds dual citizenship, allegedly brought at least 15 PNG nationals aged between 19 and 35 into Australia between March 2021 and July 2023. She is said to have done so through her company, BIN Educational Services and Consulting, by offering fraudulent full educational scholarships.
Her company’s website promoted a “holistic and modern approach to education, training, and employment,” but police said the situation in reality was exploitative.
Upon arrival in Australia, the students were reportedly pressured into signing binding legal documents that required them to repay undefined “costs associated with tuition, airfares, visa applications, insurance, and legal fees.”
To repay these debts, they were allegedly forced to work on fruit farms across Queensland—particularly in Lockyer Valley and Stanthorpe—often breaching their visa conditions.
Authorities reported that the students were made to labour “10 hours a day, seven days a week,” with Abubakar allegedly collecting and keeping their wages to repay the supposed debts.
“The farmers did not know of Abubakar’s alleged scheme,” the AFP clarified.
The investigation also claims that those who resisted or failed to comply were threatened by Abubakar, who allegedly warned them of deportation or threatened their families in PNG.
“She would allegedly receive the wages on the workers’ behalf and withhold them.”
“If they refused to comply, Abubakar allegedly threatened to have the students deported or intimidated their family in PNG,” police said.
Abubakar now faces 31 criminal charges, which include four counts of human trafficking, 14 counts of deceptive recruitment, and 13 counts of conduct resulting in debt bondage.
She has been granted conditional bail and is scheduled to reappear in court on September 19.
AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer condemned the alleged acts of exploitation, saying, “The AFP is committed to protecting vulnerable foreign workers who are targeted by those driven by greed and profits.”
He continued: “Victims of debt bondage and other human trafficking offences can be lured to Australia with a promise of a dream career or free education—things they may not have access to in their country of origin.”
“If the conditions of that promise change, it can leave victims in an extremely vulnerable situation in a foreign country, where they are likely to have little financial or emotional support and face issues with language barriers.”
Telfer also reassured the public of the AFP’s commitment to victim welfare and urged the reporting of any suspected exploitation.
“The AFP can help people who are exploited. We are focused on ensuring the welfare of victims,” he said.
This development follows closely on the heels of an unrelated case in Germany, where authorities recently arrested 13 members of a suspected Nigerian criminal syndicate.
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