It followed the arrest of a Kenyan and Somalia national they said had been dispatched by Al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
to execute the plan, part of which was thwarted on Friday after the officers recovered a cache of explosives they intended to use.
The deadly weapons were found in a house Mr Abdulmajid Yasin Mohamed, 26, and Mr Suleiman Aden, 24, had rented in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate.
They included four suicide bomb vests, 12 hand grenades, four AK-47 assault rifles, 480 rounds of ammunition and two home-made bombs.
"Eight suspects are believed to be part of the syndicate and we shall be circulating their pictures so that anyone who recognises them can give the information to police," Police front man Eric Kiraithe said.
A detective close to the investigation but requested anonymity (because he is not authorised to give information to the media) said that beturbanned goons planned to detonate the explosives in churches and other public places Nairobi, Nanyuki and Kisumu.
Besides the kabooms, the attackers also planned to spray bullets on those who would survive the bombings as well security officers who would respond to the incidents.
The sting operation was carried out at 1am by a crack squad of the Special Crime Prevention Unit. The suspects did not put up any resistance when the officers surrounded the storey building, knocked at their door and ordered them out.
According to police, the recovered jacket wallah vests were similar to the ones used in the July 2010 bombings in Kampala, Uganda, in which 76 people died and many more injured.