Police in Nairobi launched a two-day operation targeting street children with 470 of them ending up in police custody.
The swoop which began on Monday aims to clear the urchins from the streets of Nairobi.
Police revealed that the street children will be vetted and placed in care homes within the country with some returned to their homes.
The number of street urchins in Nairobi has been on the rise and this has been accompanied by an increase in petty crime such as pick-pocketing, snatching of valuables and car vandalism.
Previous attempts to place the children in care homes bore little result after they escaped from the facilities back to the streets.
In August last year, Nairobi County Executive for Education, Youth and Social Services Anne Lokidor announced that the county had constructed a Sh200 Million facility for the children in Ruai.
The facility, set to be launched by mid 2017, would accomodate 3000 street children who would also be rehabilitated.
