The seizure of Nyachol was one of many prophetic seizures in Unity State in the post-CPA period that evoked cultural archives to establish divine power. People were increasingly drawing on claims of divine authority to give them the power to contest the supranatural claims of the hakuma. The post-CPA dangers, impurities and violence meant that these divine authorities quickly gained popular appeal by offering safety, purity and resistance. The flurry of ecstatic divine activity surrounding new seizures provided opportunities to rage against violence and injustice, through songs, invocations and physical violence. Prophets quickly won popular support among the armed youth who were facing the brunt of the hakuma’s predatory violence.
For example, in 2008 in Panyijar (southern Unity State), David, the son of a former prophet who had died in 1997, was seized by the same divinity as his father. David had previously worked for an international NGO, but then took on the full-time role of a prophet. People went to David to ask for advice, healing and strength for raids,
1 Interview with an elder in Panyijar, July 2012; interview with prophet in Panyijar, July 2012. as well as keeping their cattle together with his herd when they feared insecurity.
2 Interview with cattle camp leader in Panyijar, June 2012. He rapidly mobilised a significant group of youths. This prophet was both courted and criminalised by different government officials.