By Johnson Eze

 In  what  could  go  down  in  history  as  landmark  citizens’  determination to  ensure service  providers  in  Nigeria take full responsibility  for  unprofessional  conducts ‐  actions  or  inactions  as  practiced  in  other 
climes,  an Abuja‐based rights  activist Mr  Sam Akpa Nsubong   has sued Weststar Associates  Ltd, the  Nigerian representative of Daimler AG Stuttgart, makers of Mercedes Benz, for damaging his Mercedes,  C300 4matic sports sedan, he had taken to the company for service.

 In the suit  instituted  at  court No.  34  of  FCT  high  court  Kubwa  district  of 
Abuja,  Nsubong is   seeking  among  other  relief  the  order  of  the  court  to  declare  that  Weststar Associates has breached the duty of care and has neglected its duties to effect repairs on the  said vehicle and consequently responsible for the malfunctions developed by the Mercedes Benz car. 

 He therefore  further  prayed the  court to  compel  Weststar to  fix  and  deliver the  car to  him  within two  weeks without extra fees and in addition pay him the sum of N2million for special damages incurred.

 The report reveals that Nsubong had taken his Mercedes car to Weststar for service, and sundry repairs  with  the  hope  that  the  Auto  repair  company  is  competent  especially  going  by  the  notion  that  it  represents a reputable global brand ‐ Daimler AG . Having paid the due fees the car was scheduled for 
repairs and to be picked up at a later date. Surprisingly, however, on returning to pick the  car it was  discovered  that some  parts  listed  for repairs  were  not  attended  to,    the  technicians had allegedly forgotten the details of work meant to be carried out on the car. 

 It took the  immediate complaint of Nsubong  for the obvious parts of the car to be to procured and replaced. It became subject of grave concern when within few weeks the car was recovered from the Weststar  and put into use, it suddenly broke down and was taken back to Westastar which diagnosed the fault to  be oil sludge. 

 At that point, two possibilities were clear: Either Weststar did not change the oil of the car  and returned it toNsubong or they had used the wrong oil for it as according to him, he had not taken  the car to any other technician and had no course to do that. 

 In view of the Weststar complicity to the ugly occurrence, Nsubong  had vehemently demanded for his car  to be fixed by the company at no additional charge since the whole fault is traceable to it but Weststar  turned it down resulting to the suit. I
To further expose Weststar’s utter deviation from industry best practices, our reporter gathered Nsubong   through  his  lawyer  via  motion  on  notice  has  filed  an  application  to  join  Daimler  AG  Stuttgart  the  company they  claim to represent here  in Nigeria  as  an  interested party  and second defendant  in the  case  thereby  widening  the scope  of  the  matter  by  bringing  in  international standard  of  auto  repair  services which Daimler has.