Tucker Carlson Guest Who Downplayed Christian Persecution in Nigeria Actually Defended Alleged Nigerian Pe … – Mediaite

LEFT: Bob Amsterdam RIGHT: Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson hailed attorney Bob Amsterdam for “defending Christians around the world,” and as “one of the people that I talk to most off-camera about what is happening to the Christian population of the world” in an interview published last week.
During their conversation, Amsterdam downplayed allegations of anti-Christian persecution in Nigeria. He did not disclose, however, that he had previously worked as a lawyer for Nasir El-Rufai, a Nigerian politician with a track record of persecuting Christians.
A 2021 report put together by International Christian Concern, a persecution watchdog group contains startling accusations against El-Rufai:
It was within a few minutes of sunset—slated for 6:14 that day—on Christmas Eve 2016 when Fulani militants stormed the village of Goska in central Nigeria’s Kaduna State. The assault didn’t last long, but before disappearing into the dim brush surrounding Goska, the Fulani militant attackers managed to burn eighty houses and wound dozens of villagers. Fourteen villagers died, including women and children.
The attack attracted international attention because it happened while Goska was rendered helpless by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who, just five days prior, had ordered the residents of the Jema’a Local Government Area (LGA) where Goska is located into complete lockdown.
The lockdown, ostensibly designed to prevent attacks by banning all movement, was enacted after protests of the El-Rufai administration’s lackluster response to violence in Jema’a. The month leading up to the attack saw 102 people killed, 215 injured, and an estimated 50,000 houses burned across twenty-five Christian farming communities in Jema’a, a jurisdiction smaller than the city of Houston. However, El-Rufai’s administration only enforced the Goska lockdown against villagers, who reported that members of nomadic Fulani groups moved about freely in the days leading up to the attack.
Despite international condemnation of the lockdown in Jema’a, El-Rufai has imposed at least six lockdowns since the 2016 attack. In a pattern now all too familiar, villagers protest the lack of security provided by the El-Rufai administration and El-Rufai responds to protesting communities by locking them down. These lockdown orders make it impossible for villagers to organize early warning systems, making militant attacks even more deadly as villagers no longer have the warning they need to flee into the bush.
International Christian Concern went on to allege that El-Rufai “revived an antiquated rule from Nigeria’s years under military dictatorship to regulate religious leaders and religious teaching in Kaduna.”
El-Rufai has also been widely criticized for declaring that “Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.” The Fulani are a mostly Muslim ethnic group. According to the State Department, Fulani militias frequently target the Christian community in Nigeria.
After Carlson asked Amsterdam to give him “the actual truth of Christian persecution in Nigeria” on his show, Amsterdam touted his ties to the current Nigerian government and insisted that the attacks from Islamic terrorists are “not targeted at Christians.”
“Nigeria wants to consult with the United States. Nigeria wants assistance in protecting Christians and Muslims, protecting their populations,” insisted Amsterdam.
“Ted Cruz is upset about what’s happening in Nigeria to Christians. I’m not against him being upset about that. You say it’s much more complicated than he’s presenting. — probably more tribal than religious. I don’t know much about it. But how much has Ted Cruz said about the U.S.-funded destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church?” asked Carlson shortly after that.
In addition to representing El-Rufai in a 2009 corruption case, Amsterdam has represented the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which the Ukrainian government alleges has connections to Russia, the authoritarian regime often praised by Carlson that invaded Ukraine in 2022.
In an interview with The Washington Post last year, Amsterdam appeared to echo Russian propaganda:
Amsterdam claimed in an interview, without providing evidence, that Ukraine’s Security Service is “torturing” Ukrainian Orthodox priests for speaking Russian. There hasn’t been anything like this “since the Nazis,” he said.
Amsterdam’s arguments about Ukraine were similar to a propaganda campaign laid out by Kremlin political strategists in internal 2023 Kremlin documents, part of a cache obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post. The campaign called for portraying Ukraine as having “turned into an anti-Christian society,” while those in Zelensky’s administration were to be portrayed as behaving like “Nazis” in their efforts to subdue the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Amsterdam, who was brought in to work on the issue by Vadim Novinsky, a Russian Ukrainian tycoon with close ties to the top leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, says he is focused solely on the issue of religious freedom, not Moscow’s agenda. “You can’t ban a church. It’s completely contrary to the rule of law,” he said. “I never got involved in funding arguments. I never spoke against Ukraine.” In the emails to lawmakers, while condemning Ukraine for what they said was the “persecution of Ukrainian Christians,” the lobbyists have spoken of their “steadfast support” for Ukraine “against Russian aggression.” Amsterdam said part of his work for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was financed by Novinsky, but he declined to specify who else was financing him.
Open Doors International, another watchdog, ranked Nigeria at seventh on its 2025 list of “the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.”
“Jihadist violence continues to escalate in Nigeria, and Christians are particularly at risk from targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani fighters, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province),” asserted Open Doors. “These increased under the rule of former president Muhammadu Buhari, putting Nigeria at the epicentre of targeted violence against the church. The government’s failure to protect Christians and punish perpetrators has only strengthened the militants’ influence.”
Carlson’s dismissal of the plight of Nigerian Christians is notable given his stated interest in the well-being of Christians around the globe. Much of his focus in this regard has been concentrated on Ukraine and Israel. Neither are included on Open Doors’ watch list.
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