Bayelsa State government officials in Nigeria say the mother of a state legislator has been kidnapped in the country's southern Niger Delta.

Jonah Okah, A spokesman for the Bayelsa state parliament says gunmen took the woman from her home Monday night in Brass, a remote part of the oil-producing delta region.

The spokesman also says the 11-year-old son of another local legislator was released by kidnappers Tuesday. It is not clear whether ransom money was paid for the child's release.

The mother of the speaker of the Bayelsa state parliament was also abducted and released earlier this month.

Kidnappings for ransom are frequent in Nigeria's delta region. Armed gangs have mostly abducted foreign oil industry workers, but recently began including relatives of local officials they think can afford to pay for their release.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.