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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kukele of Nigeria

The Kukele of Nigeria, numbering approximately 260,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Nigeria They are an Indigenous people, with Kukele as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Benue people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Kukele.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Benue
Primary Language(s): Kukele (kez)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 260,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013939
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Pray for the Kukele 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

97%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kukele
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Kukele Speakers

Media Resources in Kukele:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kukele:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kukele bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Kukele:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kukele 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 Kukele:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kukele 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 Kukele:
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 Kukele of Nigeria

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 those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Kukele Across Countries (ROP3 - 105360) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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