Police in Wajir intercept Mandera bus ferrying gun, ammunitions

Police in Wajir on Wednesday intercepted a bus transporting firearm and ammunitions suspected to have been ferried under the rear passengers seats.

In a police Occurrence Book report seen by the Star, the officers who were manning the Tarbaj Highway barrier stopped the bus on suspicion it was carrying contraband goods before it was diverted to Tarbaj police station for further search by multi-agency security team.

"The bus was suspected of carrying contraband goods and was taken to Tarbaj police station for a thorough search whereby a multi-agency team composed of OCPD, SCCIO, CIPU Commander and OCS conducted a thorough search whereby the following firearm and ammunitions were recovered hidden under the rear passengers seats," read part of the report.

According to the police, the bus belonging to Legend Company plying Nairobi-Mandera route was stopped while ferrying AK 47 rifle with fixed butt stock and without serial number, which was wrapped with a Somali brown red matt, four empty AK-47 rifle magazines, two bolt head carriers without serial numbers and 201 rounds of 7.62×39mm ammunitions.

Five people, including the driver and conductor, were arrested while the exhibits have been kept at Tarbaj police station pending collection by a detachment of ATPU based in Wajir.

According to the management of the bus in Mandera, the unsuspected items belonged to a passenger who boarded the bus from Kotulo stage in Mandera county. He was identified and arrested alongside the other four staff of the legend bus company.

The bus that was carrying 57 passengers left Mandera town for Nairobi Tuesday morning and is now detained at Tarbaj police station in Wajir county.

The management of the said bus confirmed the other passengers are stranded while awaiting for another bus to continue with their journey to Nairobi.

The development comes after the militants enhanced their attacks on Kenyan soil mostly targeting security officers. Several people have lost their lives in the process mostly through IED attacks that are planted on the roadside.

Last week while speaking in Dadaab subcounty, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said the government has set aside Sh20 billion for security operations to deal with the al Shabaab threat in the Northeastern region.

Kindiki said for a long time the region has been faced with various security challenges and it's time to bring them to an end.

"We have had security challenges caused by an enemy from across the border who has caused loss of lives and property. I want to say, on behalf of the Kenyan government, that we will use all available means to ensure we end this terrorism threat,” Kindiki said.