PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The 2-year-old daughter of a Nigerian oil worker has been released by armed robbers who snatched her because they were disappointed with the loot from her house, an army spokesman said on Sunday.

The robbers had seized the girl on Thursday from her home in the anarchic oil city of Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta, and demanded a ransom to complement what they saw as a paltry haul.

"The girl was in good health and has since been handed over to the parents," Sagir Musa said.

He said the toddler was released on Saturday night and no ransom was paid.

Kidnappings are frequent in the Niger Delta and it is standard for the authorities to deny that ransoms are paid, but oil industry insiders and human rights activists say money does usually change hands, fuelling the problem.

A traditional chief from a community near Port Harcourt said last month he had paid 3 million naira ($24,000) to secure the release of his 3-year-old son. When the boy was freed in July, the authorities had denied that any payment was made.

The targeting of small children or elderly relatives of people seen as privileged in the impoverished delta is a recent trend.

Violence in the vast wetlands region, which accounts for Nigeria's 2.2 million barrels per day of oil output, surged in early 2006 when rebels demanding control over oil revenues blew up pipelines and kidnapped foreign oil workers.

Since then, the crisis has escalated. Politically motivated attacks have stopped since a new president took office in May promising negotiations and efforts to develop the region, but kidnappings for ransom, gang violence and armed robberies occur almost daily.

Port Harcourt has been under a dusk-to-dawn curfew since street battles involving rival gangs and troops killed dozens of people last month.

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