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The Bolewa of Nigeria

The Bolewa of Nigeria, numbering approximately 244,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic group in northeastern Nigeria, primarily in Gombe State and parts of Yobe and Borno States. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Bole is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bole

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Bole (bol)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 244,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013696
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Pray for the Bolewa of Nigeria

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

78%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bole
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Bole Speakers

Media Resources in Bole:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bole:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bole bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bolewa are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Bolewa:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Bolewa of Nigeria

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

The LORD bless you and keep you.
readNumbers 6:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with God's grace, trusting that He will never abandon them.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Bolewa Across Countries (ROP3 - 101564) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BolewaPG013696BolewaNigeria244,000Engaged yet UnreachedBoleFolk Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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