The Senate has raised the alarm that national parks across the country have become safe havens for bandits, kidnappers and cattle rustlers.

According to the Senate, the criminals come out to attack and return back there for safety.

It called for the mainstreaming of the National Park Service into the nation’s security architecture in line with the resolution of the 12th National Council on Environment.

It also urged relevant security agencies in the country to be involved in park protection and surveillance, training in fire arms and ballistics, surveillance and intelligence information gathering for park rangers.

The resolutions were sequel to a motion on Thursday on the need to mainstream the National Parks Service into the Nigeria security architecture, sponsored by Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar (Kwara North) and co-sponsored by ten others.

Senator Umar, in his lead debate, had noted that the National Park Service had no sufficient resources, personnel and training to cope with the current security challenges.

Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna Central) said the country was losing revenue from national parks because the activities of bandits and kidnappers prevented people from going there. (Daily Trust)