The State Department announced today that Boko Haram, a prolific terrorist and insurgency group based in Nigeria, has been added to the U.S. government’s list of designated terrorist entities. Ansaru, a Boko Haram “splinter” group, was also added to the designation list. Boko Haram has targeted civilians, the Nigerian government, Western interests, and the U.N. In the process, the group has killed thousands of Muslims and Christians, often in suicide bombings.

Although Boko Haram is quite obviously a terrorist organization, nearly two dozen academics have advocated against the State Department’s designation.  In a May 21, 2012, letter to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the academics recognized Boko Haram’s “horrific violence,” but argued that the designation would do more harm than good. They claimed, for instance, that the designation “would internationalize Boko Haram’s standing and enhance its status among radical organizations elsewhere.”