Instead, we drove back to Dadaab - a shabby, blink-and-you'd-miss-it village now surrounded by the vast, resolutely temporary camps that make up the world's largest refugee settlement.

BBC: Condition of Somali refugees in Kenya worsening

There have also been mass arrests of ethnic Somalis, particularly after three Kenyan soldiers were shot dead last month in the town of Garissa, not far from Dadaab.

BBC: Kenya orders Somali refugees to go to Dadaab

The condition of those arriving here is deteriorating, and as the Dadaab camps become even more absurdly overcrowded some children are falling ill yet again, weeks after settling here.

BBC: Condition of Somali refugees in Kenya worsening

In December, two explosions near Dadaab, which is home to more than 400, 000 Somalis who have fled conflict and famine over the years, killed at least two police officers and wounded several others.

BBC: Somalia's al-Shabab seizes Kenyan officials in Wajir

Medecins Sans Frontieres, which operates health programmes in Dadaab, told the BBC it was already struggling to cope with the vast numbers at in the camp, which was originally designed to shelter 90, 000 people.

BBC: Kenya orders Somali refugees to go to Dadaab

Mr Nyongesa said that the attackers threw explosives and shot their way into the police post in the small town of Gerille, approximately 200km (125 miles) north of the Dadaab refugee camp, which is close to the scene of previous attacks.

BBC: Somalia's al-Shabab seizes Kenyan officials in Wajir

"No, " was the emphatic answer from several refugees I spoke to who had been at the camp for more than a month and who, while bored and saddened by their plight, placed greater emphasis on the security, free food and education offered at Dadaab.

BBC: Condition of Somali refugees in Kenya worsening