Police in Garissa town have arrested a terror suspect who was in possession of a short gun with ten rounds of ammunition.
The man is believed to be a member of the Al-Shabaab militia.
The suspect, a middle-aged man is believed to have sneaked from Somalia and is suspected to have been on his way to carry out attacks in the country.
North-Eastern regional co-ordinator, Mohamud Saleh said the man was spotted by members of the public after looking suspicious. They alerted the area administration who responded swiftly and arrested him.
"We want to thank members of the public for providing crucial information that led to his arrest. Had it not for them, the terror suspect could still be roaming freely with the weapon which we believe he wanted to use to kill people," he said.
Saleh further said that the suspect had tried to hide the weapons in a thicket before police discovered it. He is being interrogated by the security officials.
Conflicting reports were, however, collected concerning the recovered gun as other sources claimed that they belonged to a police officer who lost its possession after being drunk.
"The gun belonged to a regular police constable who misplaced it while drunk. It is at this point that he gave the man who is his close friend and was to hand it over to him later. But before he could do these people saw him with it and informed the area administrator," said the source.
Some of the locals claim the police are keen to protect their colleagues from the grievous mistake and they used the suspect as a scapegoat.