The Tigon Mbembe of Nigeria

The Tigon Mbembe of Nigeria, numbering approximately 52,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Jukunoid-speaking people of the Cameroon-Nigeria border region, distinct from the unrelated Mbembe of Nigeria's Cross River area despite the shared name, inhabiting a region of West Africa long noted for its dense linguistic diversity. They mostly adhere to Animism and Tigon Mbembe is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Tigon Mbembe (nza)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 52,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014130
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tigon 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigon Mbembe
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Mbembe, Tigon Speakers

Media Resources in Tigon Mbembe:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Tigon Mbembe:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Tigon Mbembe bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tigon 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 Tigon 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 Tigon Mbembe of Nigeria

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
readActs 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

"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.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Mbembe, Tigon Across Countries (ROP3 - 110049) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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