2 ladies in distress

I am a 75 year old Austalian ("Oz") male in Sydney, Oz, on an Oz government pension

Many people in Oz think Nigeria ("Nig") is the scam capital of the world (indeed I have been scammed from there once for a small amount), but these 2 UK citizens are real

The mother was born in Nig to Nig parents, married a Spanish man, lived in the USA & UK, will be 56 on 6th April 2013

The daughter (Julie) is 32 & does not remember her father who died in a building accident about 27 years ago. Mom & Julie have been living as a "unit" ever since (as Julie said "all we have is each other")

In the UK, mom earned a living as a self taught fashion designer working for herself. Her clients seem to have been church friends & neighbours. I am sure they had little money, but mom seemed determined not to rely on others. Julie is a smart lady, but pretty uneducated both in formal education & the ways of this world. Julie helped mom in her work. They both have UK passports

Mom was in an accident about 30 years ago, in which her eyes were damaged & she has never been able to afford to have that fixed

About 3 years ago mom found she had breast cancer. This was operated in the UK & it would not have been done as quickly if I had not sent them money.

Mom was in much pain after the operation & her brother Tobi (who works for a Nig oil products reseller of some kind) encouraged mom to come back to Nig because in Oyo State there are herbs which are reputed to help cure or alleviate cancer

Their UK church raised the funds for their air fare & they arrived in Nig around March 2011. For a while, mom had the benefit of the herbs from Oyo which at least seem to have delayed any re-occurrence of the cancer & she is no longer in pain

It seems that family helps family in Nig. So with a little help from Tobi, rent paid by another family member who felt indebted to mom from many, many years back & a small donation from my pension every 4 weeks, Julie & mom survived OK in Nig for a while

But Julie is smart enough to know this can not last. Julie is an UK national, so can not work in Nig. Mom is also an UK national & although she was born in Nig (& may be able to work) has not been well enough to do so. Even if mom is able to work, the income from her "expertise" will not support both of them in Nig

Their situation began to deteriorate in Q4 2012. Each of them contracted malaria & was hospitalised. Then Julie contracted Pleurisy & was again hospitalised. They are still in debt to the hospital for most of this

Jan 2013 accelerated their problems. The family member who had paid their rent for nearly 2 years is now terminally ill & can no longer pay their rent. On 14 April, they will not only be 2 months in arrears, but another month rent is due

For some time now I have agreed with Julie's assessment that the best thing for them is to leave Nig & stay with me in Oz. That way there will be only one rent, one electricity, one gas bill etc to pay & they will also have limited access to some Oz social security benefits

How would this be achieved? - I had an investment which matured in January 2013, from the proceeds of which I could pay their rent, hospital bills etc  & air fare to Oz

Was the investment a Nig scam? - No - but it now appears it was a Panamanian scam - so the $12,000 I expected to be released in Jan 2013 is in "la-la land" & I suspect will never be available

Whilst that may illustrate that I may be gullible, I am not gullible about Julie & mom - they are in a desperate situation

Julie & I both want to end their stay in Nig & get them to Oz as soon as possible. Mom will do whatever Julie thinks is best for both of them (seems Julie is now the "boss" of their little unit & mom wants to be with Julie no matter where in the world Julie is - as Julie said "all we have is each other")

But Julie has a problem - she can not bring herself to leave Nig without paying her debts - especially since the hospital broke a "golden rule" to not treat patients without up front payment

So I am trying to raise enough to pay their debts (approx USD3500) & fly them to Oz (approx USD2500)

If you can help it would be very much appreciated

Thank you

Colin Farrell