EKET (AFP) – Two workers taken hostage in separate incidents from supply vessels supporting ExxonMobil operations off Nigeria have been released, a spokesman for the US-based oil group said Wednesday.

“We have been informed by the contractors that the two men have been released,” a company spokesman in Nigeria said.

He could not however say if ransom was paid for the two kidnap victims taken in separate incidents near ExxonMobil operations off southern Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state.

Security sources said the victims included a Bangladeshi and a Nigerian who were released at the weekend.

Last week, Exxon’s Nigerian joint venture, Mobil Producing Nigeria, said one person had been abducted after gunmen attacked a supply vessel near one of its platforms.

The attack followed a similar incident in the same area last month when a worker was abducted from a supply vessel.

Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta was hit by years of unrest, including kidnappings and attacks on pipelines, before a 2009 amnesty deal.

The amnesty has resulted in a sharp drop in violence in the region, but sporadic incidents still occur.

Nigeria’s is Africa’s largest oil producer.