President John Dramani Mahama said on Wednesday that Ghana has begun accepting Nigerians and other West African nationals deported from the United States.

According to Reuters, President Mahama revealed that a first batch of 14 deportees, made up of Nigerians, a Gambian and others, had already arrived in Accra, with the Ghanaian authorities facilitating their return to their respective countries.

“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US, and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.

He justified the decision by saying West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to come to Ghana.