Nothing is safe at all. Seriously, not even ball pythons or anything else. I'm not surprised they're going after the Nile monitor. They make it seem like they're terrorizing the state etc. No. They are not. There is not a stable population of them. They also have the same diet as alligators. Oh, and Nile monitors are smaller.
Also 20 lizards to thousands is a very big leap. And that'a because it's simply untrue