Earlier on Monday, soldiers appeared on state television saying they had launched a coup in a bid to “restore democracy” to the country, which is bordered by Republic of the Congo to the east, and Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the north.
In a statement read out by a soldier, flanked by two others holding guns, they said the military had seized power from the government and called on people to “rise up”.
Hours later, government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou said: “Calm has returned, the situation is under control.”