Police in Hagadera, Dadaab sub-county have arrested 3 people who were found armed with Ak 47 riffles.
Two of them were arrested as they crossed the border from Somalia.
It all started when a refugee based at the Hagadera camp hired a taxi and asked the driver to go collect two individuals at Hamey near the border.
On arrival, the driver is said to have become suspicious with the luggage which the two were carrying.
Addressing the press outside his office, North Eastern Regional Police Commander Paul Soi said that two told the driver to try and avoid the areas where there are security officers.
“However, he rushed to one of the security camps. On searching, police managed to recovered two pistols and 23 rounds of ammunition,” Soi said.
He said that the security officers on further interrogation established that their accomplice was at Hagàdera refugee camp.
“The two suspects led security officers to where one of their own was waiting for them in Hagadera. He was arrested with a firearm and 13 rounds of ammunition,” he added.
There are fears that the weapons were to be used to carry out an attack either within Dadaaab or Garissa County.
Soi did not reveal the identities of the 3 but according a police officer who was among those who was involved in the arrest, one of the suspects is a refugee.
“The 3 are being held at a allocation I won’t disclose to you for security reasons. They are being subjected to a multi agency team for further interrogation. I want to thank members of the public for their valuable information that led to their arrest,” Soi said.
Security officers have been conducting operations in the vast Dadaab sub-county which is home to the 3 refugee camps and along the border in a bid to flush out Al-Shabaab militants, their sympathizers and financiers believed to be hiding in the area.
The arrest comes barely a week after Al-Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the attack at 14 Riverside, Nairobi that claimed 21 lives.
By Jacob Songok
