A series of kidnappings of foreign workers has reduced Nigerian oil production by over 20% since the beginning of the year. Wednesday, six workers were freed after the government paid a ransom, and Thursday, two more workers were kidnapped. After the Thursday kidnapping operation killed a Nigerian soldier, angry troops burned hundreds of homes in Port Harcourt, an important center of the Nigerian oil industry. President Olusegun Obasanjo asked the Nigerian senate to use 600 billion naira ($4.9 billion US) in currency reserves to make up for the income shortfall caused by the disruptions in oil production.