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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

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

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 God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
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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