Johannesburg — Nigerian terror accused Henry Okah's bail application took a twist on Thursday after evidence emerged that he ordered his co-conspirators to get the cars used in the twin bombings that killed 12 people.

Okah and his lawyer Rudi Krause appeared shocked when State prosecutor Shaun Abrahams produced an affidavit alleging that Okah had instructed his alleged co-conspirators to buy the two cars used in the bombings.

In the affidavit, investigating officer Lieutenant Colonel Graeme Zeeman said Okah had been in contact with the people who had detonated the twin car bombs in Nigeria.

"Prior to the detonation of the two improvised explosive devices on 1 October in Abuja, two vehicles, namely a Honda and a Mazda 626, were purchased in Lagos on the instruction of the accused, by persons complicit in the crime," Abrahams said.

The cars were loaded with dynamite and parked on a road near a prominent hotel in Abuja, where Independence Day celebrations were taking place. Twelve people were killed and 36 others injured in the explosions.

Abrahams said Okah had been in contact with Chima Orlu before and after the blasts. Orlu was wanted by Nigerian authorities following the attacks.

Abayomi Adeshida/Vanguard

The scene of a bomb blast during the 50th Independence Anniversary around the Millenium Park, Abuja.

Orlu allegedly sent an SMS reading: "Done, tell them to leave", which was said to have been forwarded to Okah on the day of the October 1 attacks.

Krause asked the State to supply him with copies of cellphone records used as evidence to link the 45-year-old father of four to the Independence Day car bombs.

"The defence wants access to the cellphone records and text messages," Krause submitted to magistrate Hein Louw.

He applied to the court to allow him to get copies of the records that the prosecution provided as evidence that Okah was the "mastermind" of the October 1 attacks.

This follows Wednesday's submissions by Krause, challenging the State to produce a "shred of evidence" linking the former marine engineer to the blast.

Okah maintained that he was innocent and denied having had contact with Orlu.

"The evidence presented by the State is vague and lacks particularity," Okah declared in a responding affidavit submitted to the court.

He alleged that the evidence might have been fabricated by either the Nigerian government or their South African counterparts.

Abrahams opposed this application, saying it would be allowing Okah's lawyers to "peek over the investigation".

The State also alleged that Okah's brother, arrested in Abuja on Saturday, was also involved in the blast.

It also alleged that Okah, under the alias Jomo Gbomo, was the sender of an email warning about the attacks.

The State said it had found notes in his diary on high calibre weapons, which matched those listed in quotation confiscated from his home in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg on October 2.

A letter in which Okah's wife, Azuka Okah, refers to him as the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta was also circumstantial evidence that he was still an active commander of the militia group.

However the defence denied that Azuka Okah was the author of the letter and that she had downloaded it on the internet.

A self-confessed war expert, Okah was being investigated for money laundering and weapons proliferation by South African police.

Okah was also being investigated by the home affairs department for fraud relating to his application for South African citizenship.

Abrahams said that in his application for residency in the country, Okah had given the department fraudulent documents.