Nigerian lady arrested for trafficking 15 students in Australia
The Australian Federal Police have detained Binta Abubakar, a 56 year old Nigerian-Australian lady, on suspicion of trafficking students from Papua New Guinea and enlisting them in agricultural labour for no pay on farms across Queensland under the pretence of school scholarships.
On Wednesday, Abubakar, 56, was taken into custody at the Brisbane Airport after arriving from her primary base in Papua New Guinea.
The AFP’s Northern Command Human Trafficking Team began looking into her operations in July 2022 after receiving a tip from Queensland Police, and it took two years to conclude with her arrest.
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.”
By presenting fictitious complete educational scholarships, the dual citizen allegedly used her company, BIN Educational Services and Consulting, to entice at least 15 PNG people, ages 19 to 35, to Australia between March 2021 and July 2023.
The report disclosed that her company’s website claimed to offer a “holistic and modern approach to education, training, and employment.”
Police, however, said that the truth was very different.
The students were allegedly forced to sign a number of legal documents once they arrived in Australia, which required them to pay back “costs associated with tuition, airfares, visa applications, insurance, and legal fees.”
They were allegedly made to labour on fruit farms in Queensland, such as those in Stanthorpe and Lockyer Valley, in order to pay off these debts, frequently against the terms of their visas.
The report further revealed that the students were made to work “10 hours a day, seven days a week,” while their wages were allegedly collected and withheld by Abubakar to pay off the so-called debt.
“The farmers did not know of Abubakar’s alleged scheme,” the AFP stated.
Following this, Binta Abubakar has been charged with of 31 crimes, including 13 counts of participating in behaviour that led to someone entering into debt bondage, 14 counts of conducting misleading recruitment for employment or services, and four counts of trafficking in persons.
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