The son of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha has been rearrested in Abuja - just hours after being released from prison on bail.

Mohammed Abacha had been in detention since 1999 on charges of corruption and money laundering.

A separate charge of murder was dropped in July.

His father ruled Nigeria from November 1993 until his death in June 1998 and was alleged to have looted more than a billion dollars.

Scuffle

The police had to fight off his family who had thrown a ring around him soon after he was released and blocked his exit as he tried to leave in his family car, the French AFP news agency reported.

Last Monday, a ruling by a Federal High Court restrained the federal government from rearresting Mohammed on charges over which he had been granted bail by a high court.

However, the police were waiting for him outside the court premises as he signed his bail papers.

Obasanjo did a hard deal with the Abachas

For the past four years, the Abacha family has been dogged by controversies - including allegations of murder and hiding millions of dollars that Mr Abacha was alleged to have stashed away in foreign banks while he was head of state.

In July, President Olesegun Obasanjo announced a deal with the family that allowed them to keep $100m, if they returned more than $1bn which was sent to foreign banks by General Abacha between 1993 and 1998.

In the same month, the Supreme Court dropped murder charges against Mohammed Abacha.

He had been accused of ordering the killing of the wife of former opposition leader Moshood Abiola in June 1996.