Bob Morane 1-2 (2017-2018)

Africa 2024, western Nigeria. UN peacekeeping forces have been brought in following interethnic clashes. The 28-year-old Lieutenant Morane is part of an international unit of French troops patrolling a residential area of Yoruba when a distraught child asks for their help. His father has just been taken from his home and mutilated by a group of insurgents. The man is a well-known politician, Dr Kanem Ousman. Bob's orders leave no room for maneuver: he is not to intervene. But Bob can't just stand by and do nothing. So he decides to disobey orders. He manages to free the mutilated Ousman and bundle him into their armored vehicle. The rescue was a success, but fell out with their remit, with the result that that both men are court-martialed by their respective armies.But Bob's trial is thrown out when Kanem Ousman is made president of the independent state of West Nigeria… and the first thing he asks France for is a pardon for Lieutenant Morane. Cleared of all wrongdoing but kicked out of the army, Bob is contacted by Ousman during a visit to France. Having read the young engineer's impressive CV, the grateful President Ousman offers him a job as his personal advisor. His hope is that Bob will be able to help him put a stop to foreign multinationals draining his nation's natural resources. The country may be poor but it is rich in raw materials (tantalum, coltan, copper, zinc) needed to make new technologies…