25 more women in Nigeria have been rescued from Boko Haram. This number may not be as significant as the initial 300 who were freed, but it is just as important. Not only is it meaningful that women’s lives are being saved, but the momentum is building to #BringBackAllOurGirls.

Boko Haram is an Islamic extremist group that does not believe girls and women have a right to education. They also don’t believe in keeping their opinions to themselves because they actively persecute girls for studying by kidnapping them, forcing them into marriage, and selling them into slavery.

Nigerian troops not only rescued 25 more children and women, but they destroyed seven more Boko Haram camps in the Northeastern region. The continuous rescues have lead soldiers to the extremists’ remaining hideouts.

It is still unclear whether or not this rescue included the girls that were kidnapped from school in Chibok a year ago, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. What we do know, however, is that 219 of the Chibok girls remain missing.

No child should be afraid to go to school. Currently, many Nigerian families are petrified of the extremist element, to the point where they don’t feel safe in their own homes, out of fear for Boko Haram attacks. Thousands of Nigerians have sought refuge in neighboring country Niger. But the conditions there aren’t exactly promising- they’re just supposed to be safe. However, Niger deported over 3,000 Nigerian refugees after Boko Haram attacked an island in Lake Chad (a lake shared by the two countries).

The Niger government said they were planning a military operation in the area to divert Boko Haram extremists. They ordered their citizens further inland and sent the refugees on a three-day trek back to the Nigerian border. Niger alerted Nigerian authorities, so trucks were sent to the border to pick up the masses.

Much of Northern Nigeria is displaced right now, while the population lives in fear. Education is being impeded and girls are being targeted. I hope that this is only a short-term situation and that the momentum of these rescue missions continues to grow so that the country can become a safe place where all children can attend school without fear of persecution.

Let’s keep things heading in the right direction. Click here to sign the petition to call on the Nigerian president to push every resource available to #BringBackOurGirls and end the violence in Northern Nigeria.