Over $23.7 billion (about N 3.7 trillion) may have been sliced off the nation's current account in the first nine months of last year, courtesy of the lingering Niger Delta crisis, a report from the Technical Committee has disclosed.

The amount was made up of $20.7 billion (N 3.3 trillion) losses in revenue due to the crisis' induced production shut-ins, and $ 3 billion (N480 billion) lost through oil thefts.

The chairman of the committee, Mr. ledum Mitee, said the figure shows that "if we were to buy peace, we would be spending less than what we are losing in the crisis."

The November report by the Niger Delta Technical Committee, which was made available to the press by the Chairman, said attacks on installations resulted "in shutdowns and spillages with consequent losses in revenue estimated at about $20.7 billion (N3.3 trillion)."

The estimates were based on an average of 700,000 barrels a day lost during the months from January to September, multiplied by each month's average Nigerian crude price.

The report added that "this amount (of $20.7 billion) is exclusive of another estimated $3 billion lost to oil bunkering (theft) over the first seven months of this year alone."

Mitee, who is a political leader in the Niger Delta's Ogoniland, confirmed the numbers in the report in Abuja recently.

The report also said that "there are unaccounted costs in human misery, with about 1,000 persons killed within the same period and another 300 taken as hostages."

The committee was set up on December 1, by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, to resolve the crisis of the Niger Delta but hasn't been made public.

Militants' attacks and crude theft since 2006 have kept more than 500,000 barrels a day shutdown in Nigeria. The report proposes an amnesty for militants if they are willing to disarm and said the committee's work had attracted interest from militants and communities.

But "judging by the level of angst we perceive, we share the views of those who believe that there is a looming danger that the present Niger Delta crisis could easily escalate," the report said.

Based on the numbers disclosed, "the cost of failure is too enormous to contemplate," the report added.