The East Gbari of Nigeria

The East Gbari of Nigeria, numbering approximately 1,490,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an East Gwari-speaking branch of the Gbagyi people, original inhabitants of the Abuja area displaced by creation of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, traditionally farmers and potters of Niger and Nasarawa states. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Gbagyi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Nupe
Primary Language(s): Gbagyi (gbr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 1,490,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013752
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the East Gbari 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gbagyi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

90%
%
Gbagyi Speakers

Media Resources in Gbagyi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Gbagyi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gbagyi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The East Gbari 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 East Gbari:
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 East Gbari of Nigeria

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Gbagyi Across Countries (ROP3 - 103266) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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

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