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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Puku of Nigeria

The Puku of Nigeria, numbering approximately 84,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as 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 are an Indigenous people, with Puku as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Benue people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak ut-Ma'in.

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.

Pray Now!
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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.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
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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