Nigeria, Feb. 4 -- A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of Richard Laing, the managing director of ExxonMobil.

The court ordered the arrest after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, argued that Mr Laing had refused to appear over an investigation into an alleged fraudulent pipeline project concerning his company.

The EFCC said the investigation related to the alleged fraudulent creation of procurement orders worth more than $213 million as part of a pipelines project.

The January 29 warrant, granted by Justice Okon Abang, compels Mr Laing to appear before anti-graft investigators.

The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the investigation is into the company, and not ...