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The Puku of Nigeria

The Puku of Nigeria, numbering approximately 84,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Plateau people of Nigeria's Sokoto State whose ancestors served as soldiers for the Kingdom of Kebbi during its 1700s war with Zamfara, later founding their own kingdom and resisting subsequent Fulani slave raids. They mostly adhere to Animism and ut-Ma'in is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): ut-Ma'in (gel)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 84,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014086
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Pray for the Puku 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

83%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: ut-Ma'in
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
ut-Ma’in Speakers

Media Resources in ut-Ma'in:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in ut-Ma'in:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the ut-Ma'in bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Puku 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 Puku:
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 Puku of Nigeria

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
readPsalm 34:4

Pray for each who becomes a child of God to share the hope of eternity with family and friends.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
readHebrews 10:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the day of their salvation and persevere in their faith despite hardships and suffering.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Puku Across Countries (ROP3 - 108163) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PukuPG014086PukuNigeria84,500Engaged yet Unreachedut-Ma'inAnimism

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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