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Donations flowed freely from passersby into the coffers of a destitute with six children begging for alms at Ikeja area of Lagos State Southwest Nigeria.

The woman with her six children

The woman, Mrs. Aisha Ibrahim, 30, from Kano State, it was gathered, gave birth to quadruplets in 2008 and a set of twins in June 2010 in her village in Kano and came to Lagos to beg for alms when she and her husband could not cope with the feeding of the children.

The woman was seen on Awolowo Way, Ikeja where a crowd gathered around her and six children (three boys and three girls).

Many passersby pitied her and gave her money freely. They called on the Lagos State Government to come to her aid by providing for the children.

Speaking , Aisha said she left Kano for Lagos when the suffering became unbearable and there was nobody to run to.

She gave the age of the quadruplets as two years old while the twins are six months old.

She described her husband, Ibrahim, as a peasant farmer who cannot cope with the upkeep of the children...

Aisha was accompanied by a woman and her sister, who help to carry some of the children while she begs for alms.

She received money ranging from N10 to N500 and even more from passersby.

Aisha who stays at the Lagos Central Mosque, Lagos Island, appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to her aid by providing her accommodation and job to take care of her children.

She also appealed to Nigerians to assist her take care of her malnourished children who are living on the benevolence of the public.

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.

To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an. arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing,” said one.

The four main targets for any raid on Iran would be the uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom, the gas storage development at Isfahan and the heavy-water reactor at Arak. Secondary targets include the lightwater reactor at Bushehr, which could produce weapons-grade plutonium when complete.

The targets lie as far as 1,400 miles (2,250km) from Israel; the outer limits of their bombers’ range, even with aerial refuelling. An open corridor across northern Saudi Arabia would significantly shorten the distance. An airstrike would involve multiple waves of bombers, possibly crossing Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Aircraft attacking Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, could swing beneath Kuwait to strike from the southwest.

Passing over Iraq would require at least tacit agreement to the raid from Washington. So far, the Obama Administration has refused to give its approval as it pursues a diplomatic solution to curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Military analysts say Israel has held back only because of this failure to secure consensus from America and Arab states. Military analysts doubt that an airstrike alone would be sufficient to knock out the key nuclear facilities, which are heavily fortified and deep underground or within mountains. However, if the latest sanctions prove ineffective the pressure from the Israelis on Washington to approve military action will intensify. Iran vowed to continue enriching uranium after the UN Security Council imposed its toughest sanctions yet in an effort to halt the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, which Tehran claims is intended for civil energy purposes only. President Ahmadinejad has described the UN resolution as “a used handkerchief, which should be thrown in the dustbin”.

Israeli officials refused to comment yesterday on details for a raid on Iran, which the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has refused to rule out. Questioned on the option of a Saudi flight path for Israeli bombers, Aharaon Zeevi Farkash, who headed military intelligence until 2006 and has been involved in war games simulating a strike on Iran, said: “I know that Saudi Arabia is even more afraid than Israel of an Iranian nuclear capacity.”

In 2007 Israel was reported to have used Turkish air space to attack a suspected nuclear reactor being built by Iran’s main regional ally, Syria. Although Turkey publicly protested against the “violation” of its air space, it is thought to have turned a blind eye in what many saw as a dry run for a strike on Iran’s far more substantial — and better-defended — nuclear sites..

Israeli intelligence experts say that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are at least as worried as themselves and the West about an Iranian nuclear arsenal.Israel has sent missile-class warships and at least one submarine capable of launching a nuclear warhead through the Suez Canal for deployment in the Red Sea within the past year, as both a warning to Iran and in anticipation of a possible strike. Israeli newspapers reported last year that high-ranking officials, including the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have met their Saudi Arabian counterparts to discuss the Iranian issue. It was also reported that Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, met Saudi intelligence officials last year to gain assurances that Riyadh would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets violating Saudi airspace during the bombing run. Both governments have denied the reports

Albert Gubay amassed his riches after founding the Kwik Save supermarket chain in 1965Photo: LIVERPOOL POST & ECHO

The devout Roman Catholic vowed to hand over half his fortune to the Church if he ever became rich when he was working as a penniless sweets-seller in Wales after the Second World War.

Instead, at the age of 82, he has fulfilled the deal by giving almost his entire £480 million estate to a new charitable foundation, keeping less than £10 million to see out his old age.

Mr Gubay, who amassed his riches after founding the Kwik Save supermarket chain in 1965, will continue running his companies until he dies and hopes to push to value of his empire to more than £1 billion.

After his death, the newly-founded Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation will receive an estimated income of £20 million a year from the businesses.

The Welsh tycoon has stipulated that half the income must be invested in the Roman Catholic Church, in line with his “pact”, while the rest can be distributed at the discretion of the trustees.

Mr Gubay, who now lives in Santon on the Isle of Man with his second wife Carmel, described his “50/50” deal with God in a 1997 television documentary made by RTE, the Irish broadcaster. He said he had told God in his prayers: “Make me a millionaire and you can have half of my money”.

He has now joined a line of businessmen who have handed over much of their wealth to charity in recent years.

Lord Sainsbury, the supermarket tycoon and one of Britain’s richest men, last year handed over £1bn to the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and instructed the trustees to spend all the money on scientific research, the arts and projects in east Africa before he dies.

Lord Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party currently embroiled in a row over his tax status, has established a foundation to receive 80 per cent of his estimated £1.1 billion fortune after his death.

Karl Rabeder, an Austrian millionaire, announced last month that he was giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising that being rich was making him unhappy.

Mr Gubay ranked 107th on The Sunday Times Rich List in 2009, but will disappear from this year’s list following his donation.

John Nugent, chairman of the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation, said: “Albert is a very frugal man and has dedicated his life to good causes.

“He wants this work to continue after his death and he has given a lot of thought to this arrangement. His priority now is to maximise the asset base of the company. He is confident he can push the worth to £1 billion before he dies.

“With these arrangements he is keeping to the pact and going well beyond it.”

Mr Gubay, who began his business career selling non-sugar sweets in Wales during post Second World War sugar rationing, founded the first Kwik Save store in 1965 and went on to sell the supermarket chain for £14 million in 1973. The chain went into administration in 2007.

He went on to found the Total Fitness network of gyms, which he sold in 2004 for £70 million, and has since built a vast property empire.

The property group Derwent Holdings is among several dozen companies being transferred to the new charitable trust.