By Estelle Shirbon
LAGOS (Reuters) - A rebel group from Nigeria's oilproducing Niger Delta demanded on Wednesday that lawyers,relatives and the Red Cross be allowed to see their detainedleader, Henry Okah, to confirm he is alive.
The government denied late on Tuesday a report by the rebelMovement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) thatOkah had been shot dead in detention in northern Nigeria. Thepresident's spokesman said he was "alive and in safe custody".
Uncertainty over Okah's fate since he was handed over toNigeria from Angola last Thursday has been raising tensions inthe delta, home to Africa's biggest oil industry which produces2.1 million barrels per day.
The MEND's anger over what it sees as governmentpersecution of Okah risks triggering a new round of violenceand derailing tentative peace talks between the government andseveral delta militant groups.
"Following the weak denial by the Nigerian governmentspokesman over the killing of Comrade Henry Okah, thegovernment must go a step further," the MEND said in an emailto journalists.
"(It must allow) access to his legal representatives,family, pastor and the International Red Cross or similar bodyfor an independent verification that he is alive and has neverbeen tortured."
Government spokesmen were not immediately available forcomment.
The MEND is one of several armed groups who say they arecampaigning to redress injustice in the impoverished delta,where five decades of oil extraction have brought pollution andcorruption but few benefits for the poor majority of residents.
Militancy and crime are intertwined in the delta and thesame groups that make demands for local control of oilresources or greater political autonomy also seek profits fromkidnappings for ransom, smuggling stolen crude, and extortionrackets.
Okah's MEND rose to prominence in early 2006 when he led awave of pipeline bombings and hostage takings of oil workersthat forced the closure of a fifth of Nigerian oil output.
In May 2007, President Umaru Yar'Adua came to powerpromising peace talks with delta militants, and at first Okah'sgroup was receptive. It declared a temporary ceasefire.
But in September, Okah was arrested in Angola ongun-running charges and his group resumed attacks and threats.
Last Friday, the MEND and the Angolan state news agencyreported Okah had been handed over to Nigeria but there was nocomment from the Nigerian authorities until Tuesday night'sdenial that he had been shot dead in detention.
The leaders of other militant groups have returned to thenegotiating table this month after a hiatus lasting a fewweeks, but anger over the government's handling of Okah couldagain jeopardise progress.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
