Nigeria Plans to Use AI to Monitor Traffic and Fine Offenders

The Nigerian Directorate of Road Transport Service (DTRS), otherwise known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), is planning to implement artificial intelligence to address some road concerns in the country’s capital city, Abuja.

Nigeria to Deploy AI on Road in Abuja

In an interview on Thursday, the Head of Public Relations and Enlightenment at DTRS, Kalu Emetu, said the move is imperative amid the growing traffic in the city.

Emetu said they have “gone as far as mounting all that is required, and the recording is already on” around some road interjections in Abuja. According to him, the AI monitoring will be enabled once finalized by their Chinese partners, who seem to be the software providers. 

“Once our partners are done from their own end and the project comes on stream, definitely, the new way of ensuring a seamless traffic flow in the FCT, especially in the city will come to life,” Emetu said. “What we need now is only very little time to perfect the whole process and then, we are good to go.”

Will AI Replace Traffic Officers in Abuja?

Emetu did say the AI gadgets would complement the effort of the officers to ensure compliance with the traffic rules, as well as enhance the free flow of traffic. However, a subsequent statement raises concern about AI potentially disrupting the job of the officers when the systems go live. 

“[…]Our officers will not be seen everywhere like before in most parts or interjections in the city centre. Since it is the machine that will be monitoring such activities, any offender will be picked, numbers picked and a message will be sent to the person’s cell phone for the necessary fine,” Emetu said. 

According to the VIO official, traffic offenders caught by the system will be mandated to pay fines. The fining process will be done “in line with our e-booking and e-ticketing that was launched recently,” Emetu added.