Hope is rather thin that the three foreign oil workers, two Americans and one Briton, held by insurgents could be released soon.
Feelers from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said the captives may not savour freedom until after the census.
The group has demanded that indigenes of communities in Gbaramatu, Delta State, be counted. The place was recently bombarded by troops.
The MEND argues that there is no proper record of the population and ward delineation of the area.
Crisis there prevented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from demarcating wards and registering voters for the 1999 election.
The fear is reinforced by reports from other parts of the country that preparation for the census, which begins on Tuesday, has run into a hitch due to a lack of funds.
One of the negotiators over the hostages, Bello Oboko, confirmed the fresh demand of the militants.
He said they think Ijaw communities may be completely cut off from the rest of Nigeria once they are not integrated through the head count.
The rebels, he explained, �use the hostages as human shields and they believe that if they are released without their demands being met, there would be reprisal attacks on them and the communities�.
Security report is not in favour of enumerators going into Gbaramatu and its surroundings.
However, Oboko said the militants have promised that the officials would be safe.
�All they want is that their people should be counted during the census. That is their latest demand. Their concern is for their people to be integrated into the larger Nigerian society through the census exercise�.
Oboko is the leader of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC).
He stated that the mutineers are impressed with the negotiation with the United States and Britain, which �shows that these countries understand our plight�.
Members of the South South People�s Assembly (SSPA) in North America have urged their leaders in Nigeria to disassociate the militants from any terrorist organisation, including Al-Qaeda.
A statement issued by Igho Natufe, Protem Chairman and Clement Ikpatt, Protem Secretary, said they are concerned by the linkage as it distracts from the focus.
�It is our view that the just and legitimate struggle of the Niger Delta for exclusive jurisdictions over its natural resources does not need the involvement nor the support of any terrorist organisation�, the group stated.
It noted with regret that the use of excessive force, now introduced into the clamour for justice and equity, was caused by the federal authorities, exemplified by their activities in the region.
�While we decry the resort to any type of violence by any group of persons, we encourage the people of the Niger Delta to resist the bad policies of either level of government that perpetuates gross violations of their sacred human, spiritual, constitutional, resource and environmental rights�.
The group appealed to the youths to refrain from violence and advised the government to desist from the use of force as a way of resolving the conflict.
�We also protest against excessive corruption reported against some governors in the region � bad governance is indeed a bane against judicious use of revenue accruing from statutory and derivation funds to states in the Niger Delta�.