The Bekworra of Nigeria

The Bekworra of Nigeria, numbering approximately 221,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria, located primarily in Cross River State, where they form both an ethnic community and the basis of Bekwarra Local Government Area. They mostly adhere to Animism and Bekwarra is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Bekwarra (bkv)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 221,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013681
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Pray for the Bekworra 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

80%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bekwarra
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Bekwarra Speakers

Media Resources in Bekwarra:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bekwarra:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1983 Nigeria Bible Translation Trust✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Bekwarra bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bekworra 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 Bekworra:
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 Bekworra of Nigeria

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
readLamentations 3:23-23

Pray that they will have hope in the Lord, knowing that His compassions never fails and that His mercies are new every morning.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Bekworra Across Countries (ROP3 - 101216) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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