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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yungur of Nigeria

The Yungur of Nigeria, numbering approximately 215,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of Nigeria's eastern Gongola River valley, related to the Mboi, whose centuries-old tradition of carving wooden effigies of deceased chiefs to petition for rain and harvest survives in objects radiocarbon-dated to more than 500 years old. They mostly adhere to Animism and Bena (Nigeria) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Adamawa-Ubangi
Primary Language(s): Bena (Nigeria) (yun)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 215,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014199
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Pray for the Yungur 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bena (Nigeria)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Bena (Nigeria) Speakers

Media Resources in Bena (Nigeria):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bena (Nigeria):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bena (Nigeria) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yungur 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 Yungur:
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 Yungur of Nigeria

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

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.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Yungur Across Countries (ROP3 - 111122) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
YungurPG014199YungurNigeria215,000Engaged yet UnreachedBena (Nigeria)Animism

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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