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The Iku of Nigeria

The Iku of Nigeria, numbering approximately 24,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Plateau people of Kaduna State, particularly the Kachia area, whose Iku-Gora-Ankwa language is closely associated with the Gora and Ankwa communities. They mostly adhere to Animism and Iku-Gora-Ankwa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Iku-Gora-Ankwa (ikv)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 24,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013853
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Pray for the Iku 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: Iku-Gora-Ankwa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Iku-Gora-Ankwa Speakers

Media Resources in Iku-Gora-Ankwa:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Iku-Gora-Ankwa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Iku-Gora-Ankwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Iku 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 Iku:
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 Iku of Nigeria

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Iku Across Countries (ROP3 - 103979) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
IkuPG013853IkuNigeria24,500Engaged yet UnreachedIku-Gora-AnkwaAnimism

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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