LAGOS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Henry Okah is set to meet the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to defuse the threat by group to resume attacks on oil installations at the expiration of its ceasefire on Oct. 15.

The Lagos-based Guardian newspaper reported on Monday that the president was not comfortable with the advice of his men that a renewed military showdown with MEND or other militants would be the best solution to the new threats.

Jomo Gbomo, the group's spokesperson, said in a statement that the group resumes its hostilities against the Nigerian oil industry, the Nigerian armed forces and its collaborators.

Unlike other militant leaders, Okah did not meet with President Yar'Adua even after his release from prosecution.

The Nigerian government has been arming the military to be able to curtail any new threats in the difficult creeks of the Niger Delta where militancy had resulted in the country's oil production cut by over 1.3 million barrels a day.

The government has also been unwilling to negotiate with a five-man team which the main militant group in the oil-rich Niger Deltaregion named on Sept. 29 to take up its negotiation with the government.

The team, comprising two ex-military leaders and an academic, is to oversee a transparent and proper MEND disarmament process that conforms to international standards as the current disarmament process is flawed and lacks integrity.

Nigerian Minister of Defense Godwin Abbe had said the government would not extend the Oct. 4 deadline given to Niger Delta militants to surrender their arms and embrace its amnesty program.

Abbe warned the government would take decisive actions against the group immediately after the expiration of the deadline.

In June, the Nigerian government offered amnesty to gunmen in the oil rich Niger Delta region, urging them to lay down their weapons by Oct. 4 in a bid to end unrest which has cost Africa's top oil exporter billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Over 8,000 Nigerian armed youths gave up their weapons and embrace amnesty offered by the Nigerian government in the most concerted effort yet to end years of fighting in the oil-rich producing region.

The Niger Delta is an unstable area where inter-ethnic clashes are commonplace. Access to oil revenue is the trigger for the violence.

Over 300 foreigners have been seized in the Niger Delta since 2006. Almost all have been released unharmed after paying a ransom.

Attacks and bunkering on oil pipelines in the Niger Delta have cut Nigeria's output by around a fifth in recent years, helping push world oil prices to record highs since the beginning of 2006.

The unrest in the region has forced many international firms to flee the area. The government mobilized the Nigerian army and coast guard in an anti-banditry operation.