Benin arrests former Nigerian oil militant

COTONOU (Reuters) - Benin police arrested on Tuesday a former militant leader from Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region, his lawyer said. Mujahid Dokubo-Asari led a rebellion in the Delta and famously pushed oil prices to record highs in 2004 through attacks on the OPEC member's infrastructure. His lawyer Festus Keyamo said in an emailed statement that Asari was arrested in the West African nation's capital Cotonou by Benin police. "We call on the Nigerian government to immediately intervene and ... to use all diplomatic means to secure his immediate release and safe return to Nigeria," he said. Keyamo gave no indication of the grounds for his arrest. A source for Benin's police declined immediate comment. Two diplomatic sources said that the arrest followed an investigation into Asari's business interests in Benin - a tiny cotton producer which borders oil giant Nigeria. One of the sources said Asari's group, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, was suspected of lending support to ongoing criminal activities in the Delta. Asari signed a peace deal with the government in 2004 and members of another militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, also halted its offensive after the government agreed to pay fighters under an amnesty deal in 2009. However, oil production in the region is still frequently disrupted by criminal gangs who tap crude from pipelines for local refining or sell it onto large tankers for export.