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The Dghwede of Nigeria

The Dghwede of Nigeria, numbering approximately 86,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous Chadic people of the Gwoza Hills of northeastern Nigeria whose identity is rooted in mountain settlements, descent traditions linked to the ancestor Dghwede, and a distinct Dghwede language within the wider Mandara region. They mostly adhere to Animism and Dghwede is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Dghwede (dgh)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 86,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013737
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Pray for the Dghwede 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

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dghwede
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Dghwede Speakers

Media Resources in Dghwede:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Dghwede:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dghwede bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Dghwede 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 Dghwede:
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 Dghwede of Nigeria

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Dghwede Across Countries (ROP3 - 102547) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DghwedePG013737DghwedeNigeria86,000No Longer UnreachedDghwedeAnimism

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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