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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

View all resources

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

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
readPsalm 23:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that the Lord is their shepherd, providing for their every need.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
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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