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The Dera of Nigeria

The Dera of Nigeria, numbering approximately 73,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a West Chadic people, also known as Kanakuru, whose homeland centers on Shelleng in Adamawa State, with communities extending into neighboring Borno State. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Dera (Nigeria) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Dera (Nigeria) (kna)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 73,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013736
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Pray for the Dera 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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

71%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dera (Nigeria)
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Dera Speakers

Media Resources in Dera (Nigeria):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Dera (Nigeria):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dera (Nigeria) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: No longer Unreached

The Dera 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 Dera:
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 Dera of Nigeria

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
readJames 1:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will consider it pure joy when they face trials of many kinds, trusting in God's promise that the testing of their faith produces perseverance.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that God will raise up people who love Him and are able and willing to go to and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't know it. Pray that everyone will see His name as majestic in all the earth!

Dera, Kanakuru Across Countries (ROP3 - 102526) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DeraPG013736DeraNigeria73,500No Longer UnreachedDera (Nigeria)Ethnoreligion

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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