A conspiracy theory in Nigeria began, as many often do, on social media. The rumor claimed that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, 75, was dead, and that he had been replaced by an imposter who had undergone surgery to pass as a look-alike.

Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper reported that “several videos repeating the claims have been viewed on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube more than 500,000 times.”

This is just one example of the reports that have been spreading ahead of Nigeria’s February 2019 election, that inspired media professionals from over a dozen Nigerian news outlets to get involved. They are joining forces to investigate and accurately report on misleading and false information about the candidates, political parties and campaign activities so that false information does not sway voters, impacting election results

In November, a new media watchdog group went in search of the truth.

Sherry Ricchiardi, writing for IJNET, takes a look inside Nigeria’s fact-checking watchdog organization, CrossCheck.