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The Cross River Mbembe of Nigeria

The Cross River Mbembe of Nigeria, numbering approximately 278,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Cross River people of Nigeria organized into the Adun, Osopong, Okum and Ofunbonga clans along the middle Cross River, following a double-descent system inheriting land patrilineally and movable property matrilineally. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Cross River Mbembe is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Cross River Mbembe

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Cross River Mbembe (mfn)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 278,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013728
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Pray for the Cross River Mbembe 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cross River Mbembe
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Mbembe, Cross River Speakers

Media Resources in Cross River Mbembe:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cross River Mbembe:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cross River Mbembe bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Cross River Mbembe are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Cross River Mbembe:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Cross River Mbembe of Nigeria

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

"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.

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
readPsalm 34:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be grounded in the Word, always trusting in the Lord's provision for their needs.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Mbembe, Cross-River Across Countries (ROP3 - 106472) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Cross River MbembePG013728Cross River MbembeNigeria278,000No Longer UnreachedCross River MbembeProtestantism

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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