PORT HARCOURT – The whereabouts of the leader of the Bush Boys, Imhanbiye Ehikhamhen Uaifoh, one of the militant groups in the Niger-Delta is still unknown following the clampdown on the camps of militants by the Joint Military Task Force recently.

It will be recalled that more than 200 suspected militants in raids in the oil-rich Niger Delta, recently.

Imhanbiye Ehikhamhen Uaifoh , who leads the dreaded Bush Boys, reports say, may have been killed in the raid while another source says he is hiding to escape arrest. Some suspects are accused of recruiting youths to target oil installations around Port Harcourt.

Palpable fear now envelope Port Harcourt and its environs following the attack on the Bush Boys camp as many believed there would be reprisal attack in some communities.

The source said the attack on communities by militants was a common occurrence as the militants believe these inhabitants are sell-out.

The military commander in Rivers State was cited as saying his men had found almost all militant camps, and he would mount a campaign to destroy them.

Militant attacks in the Niger Delta have cut Nigeria's oil production by about 20 percent in recent years.

The main militant groups in the Niger Delta declared a ceasefire recently.

One week earlier militants, had declared a "war" on Nigeria's oil industry, after a fierce military raid on one of their bases.

They stepped up attacks on oil installations, before the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), The Bush Boys, Greenlanders, and other militant groups declared a unilateral ceasefire.

Recent violence has been the worst in two years.

Only recently, oil giant Shell was forced to declare a "force majeure", which frees it from contractual obligations on crude oil shipments from its Niger Delta facilities.

Groups like Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), The Bush Boys, and Greenlanders, claim that they are fighting for more control over oil wealth in the impoverished Niger Delta, but they are accused of making money from criminal rackets and trade in stolen oil.