Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has called a meeting with groups from the oil producing Niger Delta, including “youth leaders” – a Nigerian term for militants – to tackle a crisis which has hit output.

The meeting raised hopes that the government and militants were moving towards a negotiated truce that could permit oil companies to restore 630 000 barrels per day of output in the vast southern wetlands shut by militant attacks. Obasanjo convened the meeting for April 5 after delta militants on Monday released three foreign oil workers they had held hostage for five weeks, a statement from Obasanjo’s office said yesterday. They had earlier released six other hostages.

“The President has convened all stakeholders including traditional rulers, elected officials, community leaders, youth leaders ... to the high level meeting,” the statement said. The meeting will address dialogue, confidence building, employment creation and the “re-building of a wholesome community spirit” in the delta, it added.

Militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, have waged a three-month campaign of kidnapping and sabotage against the oil industry which has cut supplies from the world’s eighth largest oil exporter by a quarter. They are no longer holding any foreign oil workers hostage.