I've not seen hilts like these either, Colin, and neither has Google, it seems.
I've heard back from my friend and he confirms that the scabbards are leather, stretched/shrunk over some sort of cane. The hilts look like they've been well handled and both blades are, quite crudely, laminated. The weight in the hilt makes the sword feel balanced in the hand. My friend thought maybe West African, as a guess.
It's starting to look like they will remain something of an enigma.
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