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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nzanyi of Nigeria

The Nzanyi of Nigeria, numbering approximately 183,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Nigeria They are an Indigenous people, with Nzanyi as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Chadic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Nzanyi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Nzanyi (nja)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 183,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014049
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Pray for the Nzanyi of Nigeria

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

68%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nzanyi
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Nzanyi Speakers

Media Resources in Nzanyi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Nzanyi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nzanyi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nzanyi 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 Nzanyi:
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 Nzanyi of Nigeria

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Nzanyi Across Countries (ROP3 - 107574) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NzanyiPG014049NzanyiNigeria183,000Engaged yet UnreachedNzanyiFolk Islam
NjengPG012744NjengCameroon30,000Engaged yet UnreachedNzanyiSunni 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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