EXCLUSIVE: The kidnap syndicate in Delta

By Emma Amaize KIDNAPPING (read man-stealing) has metamorphosed into such a very big industry in Delta State that it currently has a
loose association, comprising graduates and undergraduates with an organized set-up and leadership.
Our investigations showed that it is no longer a case of the money-making kidnappers abducting and looking for where to hide their captives from security agents. There are four major departments in the industry.  The first is the abduction squad, which kidnaps victims. The second is the transportation/receiver unit, which is in-charge of shepherding the victims to secret locations and keeping them in hideouts.
The third group is the negotiation department, which negotiates ransom with relations of victims and others; the fourth is the security department. The duty of the fourth  group is to provide round-the-clock security in the dens and other hideaways where victims are kept until ransom  is paid for their release. All these groups are armed.
An insider confided in Sunday Vanguard that the kingpin of the kidnapping syndicate at the moment in Delta State is one Kelvin from Kokori, Ethiope-East Local Government Area.
Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, confirmed the restricted information in an interview in Asaba on Tuesday, saying, “Kelvin is the most dangerous kidnapper in Delta State and we are looking for him”.
Aduba said Kelvin was training kidnappers and was recruiting graduates and undergraduates, as well as Okada (motorcycle) riders into his underworld team.
The commissioner  asserted that the kingpin  has so many kidnap gangs and the police have been finding it difficult to track him, while practically all Okada men in that axis  are his  informants.
It was alleged  that Kelvin’s parents  know about the involvement of their son in kidnapping , as they reside in the same neighbourhood,  but, because of the modus operandi and influence of the syndicate, it has been very difficult for the police to make a breakthrough, as information always leaked information on imminent crackdown to him.
Kidnapping nerve center
Our findings corroborated by a dependable source showed that the operational headquarters of the kidnapping industry in the state now is  Kokori. Victims abducted from several parts of the state are whisked there for the next stage of the business.
Other alleged  hot dens of kidnappers are Ekampreme, Agbarho and Ovwian, all in the Delta Central Senatorial District.  The presence of the former chair of the defunct Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, Chief Ayiri Emami, at Ubeji area is scaring kidnappers from using Jeddo as an operational base.
How it started
Kidnapping as an industry is a new development in the state. As a weapon in the Niger-Delta struggle, it was introduced by militants, who kidnapped foreign nationals to draw attention to the plight of the people of the region. It was supported because the purpose was not self-centered. Unfortunately, some criminals in the struggle veered into commercial kidnapping, that is kidnapping for money.
They kidnapped both expatriates and blacks, including politicians and  the affluent. People did not raise eyebrows, as they even said it was good for the victims. Now, kidnappers not only seize footballers, judges, teachers, lawyers, journalists, they abduct children for ransom.

MD Abubakar, Police IG

One of the governors, who saw the dangerous trend early in the day was Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. He quickly set up the defunct DWSC on assumption of office to tackle the menace, which was principally committed on the waterways. However, the kidnappers shifted base from the creek to land, which is outside the mandate of the committee. The DWSC was quietly dissolved and a joint force of soldiers, police, navy and other security services, put in place to battle kidnappers on land.
The battle has not been easy, as the kidnappers developped  sophisticated ways of carrying out their operations whenever security operatives inched closer. This, probably, explains why the police have not been able to catch Kelvin, the alleged most dangerous kidnapper in the state, even when they know his base to be Kokori.
Top officials
Some top officials,  within and outside government, are said to be  involved in the kidnapping industry because they  make money from it.
These persons have their gangs and act as intermediaries between government and  kidnappers when the demand for ransom  is placed. Politicians even use kidnappers against themselves. The officials involved will not want the industry to fold up because it is their major source of income. What goes for them is that because of their status in the society, people do not easily suspect that it is their line of business and they get patronage from government unsuspectingly.
They join in the search for kidnappers whenever they  are invited, but they know what they are benefitting.
Smaller gangs
Besides Kelvin, there are smaller gangs of kidnappers scattered in  Delta, but they are not structured. Sometimes, one or two bad boys agree to kidnap one or two persons and make money and they put their plan into action.
There is also a kidnap gang in the state suspected to be led by the younger brother of an ex-militant leader  shot dead by the Joint Task Force in Bayelsa  State, in the first quarter of this year.  The gang is still operates on the waterways of the state and was alleged to have kidnapped the two Lebanese workers of Setraco Construction Company, recently, at Gbaregolor  in Ughelli South Local Government Area.
Up till date, the gang that kidnapped the Commissioner for Higher Education, Professor Hope Eghagha, and kept him for up to three weeks in their custody after killing his police orderly and injuring his driver, has not been identified, but it is believed to be led by one Bukumo and David.
Kidnap leaders in detention
However, the police have arrested some of those who initiated profit-making kidnapping on land in Delta. A number of them are currently on remand in the prisons for different offences. What is happening, nevertheless, is that that while they are incarcerated, their boys are carrying on, and under a new structure with  Kelvin as godfather.
One of those detained, according to sources, is  Rufus, alias Infinity. He is in detention in the Federal Prisons, Okere, near Warri, and  was  alleged to be the leader of the kidnap gang that struck in Kaduna, Abuja, Kogi and other states. The gang whisked their victims to Delta  State and hid them in a privately owned hotel, from where they called their families, demanded and obtained ransoms in naira and dollars.
That time, they kidnapped outside the state and brought their victims to the state for ransom. Infinity’s boys are believed to be  still intact and carrying on with the business even though  he is in detention.
Vanguard

2015: Yar’Adua’s men regroup to stop Jonathan

 by: Dare Odufowokan

Loyalists of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua are fully back in the trenches as part of the plot by the north to regain the presidency in 2015.
In the group are erstwhile associates and aides of the deceased who, sources say, have been meeting regularly lately following their resolve to champion the cause of the north in the quest to produce the nation’s next president.
The group was said to have been prevailed upon by eminent northern leaders to save the face of the north in the crucial 2015 electoral contest.
“Several emissaries were sent to the likes of Alhaji Abba Ruma, Senator Adamu Aliero and Gen. Sarki Abdullai Muktar (rtd) by concerned northern elders on the need for them to return to the political turf in the interest of the north,” one source familiar with the development told The Nation.
The pressure on the Yar’Adua men, it was gathered, is predicated on the fact that having been involved with him in the race for the presidency in 2007 they are better placed to champion the cause of the north to vie for the presidency in 2015.
Another factor in the group’s favour is their massive financial status which sources say can match that of any other group in the country in prosecuting a presidential campaign against the incumbent should he decide to go for a second term.
The northern leaders had to turn to the Yar’Adua group after discovering some apathy from politicians they first sounded out.
The group held its first meeting in Abuja a few days after the Independence day celebration and reportedly resolved to champion the cause of the north within and outside the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Those said to have attended the maiden meeting included former Minister of Agriculture, Sayyadi Abba Ruma, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Adamu Aliero, and former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Sarki Abdullahi Mukhtar.
Others are Dr. Taminu Yakubu, who served in Yar’Adua’s cabinet as the President’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, who held the position of the Minister of Finance as well as two top personal security aides of the late President.
The politicians, sources claim, rose from the meeting with a resolve to approach the 2015 project from two fronts. One is to strengthen their base within the ruling party with a view to wrestling the ticket of the PDP from Jonathan during the party’s primary election.
The other approach, which appears to be more popular among those who attended the first meeting, is to move the group into another political party and confront Jonathan and the PDP headlong in 2015.
Two committees were said to have been formed to work on the two approaches. Consequently, some members of the group were said to have met the leadership of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to discuss the 2015 general election.
The talks, according to sources, bordered on moving the remnant of the late President’s structure fully into the CPC while work would start in earnest on how to install a preferred presidential hopeful within the party. Such a candidate, both parties agreed, must be from the north.
It was learnt that the group has met at least on two occasions with leaders of the CPC including former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari. One of such meetings, it was learnt ,took place in Kaduna on November 14 with the General in attendance.
Sources said at another meeting of the group held shortly after the first Umaru Musa Yar’Adua memorial lecture in Abuja on Thursday November 29, the two committees reported back to the house and further decisions were taken on how to bring more people into the fold.
The latest meeting of the group, The Nation on Sunday learnt was held in Katsina last Tuesday. At the parley were a former Minister of State for Finance from the Southwest; a former Minister of National Planning; a former Minister of Power also from the Southwest, a former Deputy Governor in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a leading industrialist in the country.
The presence at the meeting of a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation from the North Central and Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, one of the closest friends of the late President and a wealthy businessman from Katsina State, further strengthened the gathering.
TheNation

Powerful women of Abuja

Have you ever underestimated the power of women? If your response is in the affirmative you’d better have a rethink, in view of the enormity of influence that some women resident in the nation’s capital city, Abuja, wield. BANKOLE MAKINDE chronicles the achievements of some of these women and why they are considered as power brokers in the capital city.
NOT even the most aggressive among male chauvinists in Nigeria can undermine the worth of these women. This is because they have proved, at different times, that womenfolk are, not in any way, subservient to their male counterparts, and that the subjugation of women by men is unreasonable.
To put it succinctly, their roles in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in recent times have aided the interrogation of male chauvinism and the erroneous belief underpinning gender hegemony discourse, which often, situates women on the periphery of male-dominated society.
Though in feminine physique, the like of the coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala; Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison–Madueke; Housing Minister, Ms. Amma Pepple; Minister of State for Defence, Chief Olusola Obada; Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina; Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Olajumoke Akinjide, and many others, have further reinforced Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique using it to make a statement that nothing is wrong with femininity.
Starting with the nation’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, her generosity was said to have helped to improve lives of numerous people in Abuja as well as some other states.
Through her pet projects, A. Aruera Reachout Foundation and Women for Change and Development Initiative, she is said to have made impact on lives of many Abuja residents, especially women who have no means of livelihood.
Calculated, focused and determined, Dame Jonathan is seen by many residents of Abuja as an enviable figure who often feels the pulse of the downtrodden and influences government decision to help the helpless.
The Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has succeeded in terrains hitherto regarded as exclusive preserve of men. Her grasp of finance and economy-related matters is not in doubt, hence her “discovery” by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who first appointed her as the Minister of Finance.
Widely regarded as “Madam Economy” in the capital  city, Dr Okonjo-Iweala isa power broker who wields a great influence in President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison–Madueke, is another powerful woman who calls the shots, not only in the ministry she oversees, but also in Abuja, where life is shaped by political influence and patronage.
As an Izon woman, her phenomenal intelligence has often been displayed. Though high up the ladder, she is reputed to be humane, hospitable and kind-hearted.
Minister of State for Defence, Chief Olusola Obada, is another cynosure of all eyes in Abuja. She has proved wrong male chauvinists, who believe that certain positions should be reserved for men.
Since her appointment as the Minister of State for Defence, Chief Obada has shown that women cannot be found wanting, even in positions considered as highly sensitive.
For Hajia Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs, being good-natured has endeared her to many people in the city.
Her office, for instance, is said to be one of the few places that visitors frequent, as Abuja women often besiege it to ask for assistance or favour.
She is often referred to as the “goodness of women” in Abuja, while men, who want things done for them by Abuja women, are said to seek for her favour and assistance.
Ms. Arunma Oteh, the Director-General, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), is also one of the important women that set the tone of things in the city. She is a technocrat and one of the power brokers in Abuja who have the ears of the president.
Though she is having a running battle with some politicians, mostly males, her brilliance and or intelligence is never in doubt.
Ms. Ene Ede is the toast of the downtrodden in Abuja, due to her simplicity, forthrightness, truthfulness and sense of purpose.
She was said to have given birth to her first child at the age of 13 and has not allowed that to inhibit her from being the rallying point to all women who suffered similar fate that befell her.
Through her NGO and philanthropic activities, Ms. Ede has assisted and helped to rehabilitate many women in the city whose hope of living a meaningful life has vanished.
Secretary of the FCT Social Secretariat, Mrs Blessing Onuh, daughter of Senate President, Senator David Mark, and Reverend Sarah Omaku, the resident pastor of Worship, command the respect of womenfolk in the FCT. Both of them are seen as epitomes of success, and the assistance they render to many in the city has often received commendation.
The former Special Assistant to the former Minister of FCT, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, Hajia Amina Salihu, is another powerful woman in the FCT. She is the Executive Secretary, the Coalition for Change (C4C), an umbrella registration organisation for all non-government organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria. She is a force to be reckoned with in the city, as she similarly takes actions that affect the fortunes of many in the FCT.
Among the very few women in the FCT who combine business with politics is Hajia Basirat Nahibi. Her political influence is even said to go beyond the country as her footsteps have been seen in some African countries where she wields a lot of influence as well. She is a multimillionaire businesswoman, who owns al-Bashir Interior Decors in Abuja, where most affluent people shop for their household furniture.
Madam Nuoma Ezedike, owner of the eatery, Orange Garden, is also another powerful woman. She has succeeded in turning the eatery into a rallying point for the crème de la crème in the city FCT where issues of the day are always discussed.
Irrespective of the opinion anybody may hold, Abuja women, especially those in the positions of authority, are role models whose contributions to the development of the city have been invaluable.
NigerianTribune

PDP Will Self Destruct Without Reforms

Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi

By Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu

Works and Infrastructure yesterday received the highest allocation as the Enugu state government presented the  appropriation bill of N82.9 billion for the 2013 fiscal year tagged Budget of Sustainability.

The budget which is made up of forty five billion naira recurrent expenditure or 55 percent of the budget size and thirty seven billion naira capital expenditure or forty five percent of the budget witnessed a slight increase of eight percent from last year’s budget of seventy six billion.

Speaking while presenting the budget estimate to the State House of Assembly, the Acting Governor of the state, Sunday Onyebuchi said the administration hoped to complete ongoing projects scattered across the state.

Explaining how the budget would be put to use, Onyebuchi said the construction of new governor's building would begin early next year, adding that work would continue in all the on-going projects like road constructions in both urban and rural areas.
He enumerated new road constructions to include Iheaka-Ibeagwa-Alor-Agu road, Agbani- Ihuokpara road, Nnewi-Oduma road, Uzouwani roads and Udenu ring road among others.

Also 37 communities would benefit from the proposed budget on rural electrification that would gulp N2.6b.
Onyebuchi said; "It is a dream for 2013 which may not address all our aspirations but has touched core priorities of our people."
Responding, the Speaker of the Enugu state House of Assembly, Mr. Eugune Odo noted that the 2012 implemented budget corresponded with the income of the state.

Odo pledged speedy passage of the appropriation bill, adding that the house members will continue its oversight functions to ensure that the budget is realized.
The speaker said the house will involve the civil society and the media in perusing the 2013 budget.
ThisDay

Obasanjo Worst Thing To Have Happened To Nigeria – Owie

A founding member of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and a former member of the highest legislative body in the country, Senator Rowland Owie has accused former president Olusegun Obasanjo of being the master-mind behind the destruction of the dream of the founding fathers of the party and what the party stood for.
According to him, Obasanjo “is the worst thing that has happened to the country”.
Senator Owie said that he was ready to challenge Obasanjo to a public debate on any news medium locally or internationally, “and I will prove that he is the worst thing that has happened to this country”. Senator Owie who represented Edo South senatorial district during his time in the senate said that former president Obasanjo had scant regard for the party ethos, just as he willfully circumvented the party’s constitution to achieve his personal goals.
Owie who spoke to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY exclusively, said that the former president lacks the moral high ground to attack President Goodluck Jonathan, as according to him, President Jonathan in his two years in the saddle has achieved more than what Obasanjo did in eight years.
There appears to be no love-lust between President Jonathan and the former president, believed to be his benefactor. The matter came to the fore with Obasanjo declaring that power must return to the geo-political North in 2015. The implication being that he would not support President Jonathan’s second term.
It is widely believed that Obasanjo is propping up the governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Sule Lamido to vie for the party’s presidential ticket. Obasanjo who stepped down as the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) unceremoniously, is also believed to be fronting another candidate as a replacement for the office. This, it was learnt, has pitched him and his group against President Jonathan.
Only recently, Obasanjo told the national chairman of PDP, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, who had reached out to him in his Ota Farm, that he would not stop criticizing the party. But speaking with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY yesterday, Senator Owie said that Obasanjo superintended the desecration of the party.
His words; “It is shocking and amazing that Obasanjo can now talk about being passionate about PDP. Obasanjo was in jail when well meaning Nigerians like late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Solomon Lar, Malam Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Atiku Abubakar led many of us to the PDP.
“The vision of the founding fathers was destroyed by Obasanjo. The party guidelines for choosing candidates for the 1999 elections were very clear. To qualify to contest for the office of president then, the candidate must win his state, his senatorial district etc,.”
He recalled that the former president lost both his polling booth and Ward to the then Alliance for Democracy (AD), which he said, ought to have disqualified Obasanjo from the contest but for the timely intervention of eminent citizens such as former military heads of state, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubakar, Generals T.Y. Danjuma and Aliyu Mohammed Gusau.
Owie also alleged that the former president induced members of the National Assembly   to ‘install stoogies as heads of both arms of the NASS’.
Furthermore, the former federal lawmaker accused the former president of ‘blattantly rigged the national chairmanship election between the late Chief Awoniyi and Chief Bernabas Gemade, which Germade eventually won. When he couldn’t stand the guts of Gemade, he removed him and imposed Colonel Ahmadu Ali (retd)’.
Leadership

Edo Assembly Approves N149. 447bn Budget

Speaker of Delta House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei

Kwara proposes N94.4bn as Niger budgets N84.09bn   Delta assembly passes 12 bills in 2012

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin with agency reports

Edo State House of Assembly Thursday approved the sum of N149,477,798,805 as the state government’s 2013 Appropriation Bill.
Similarly, Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, also presented a budget proposal of N94.4 billion for the 2013 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly for approval, just as Niger State House of Assembly passed the state’s 2013 Appropriation Bill of N84.09 billion into law.

Equally, Speaker of Delta House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, Thursday said the Assembly passed 12 bills between January and December this year.
Prior to the approval of the budget, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, had last month presented a budget estimate of N150,045,377,060 to the Assembly for its consideration and approval.                                            
The N149.477 billion approval was sequel to the report presented to the Assembly by the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation and Project Monitoring, Hon. Peter Aliu, representing Etsako East constituency.                     

The approved budget showed a decrease of N594,579,865.00, while the approved recurrent expenditure stood at N42,582,666,405.00, with the consolidated fund charges standing at N20,760,135,800.                  
Consequently from the approved estimate, the total recurrent expenditure was pegged at N63,342,801,205 billion as against the earlier proposal of N116,479,778,045 billion, while capital expenditure was N86,104,997,60 as against the proposed estimate of N87.40 billion.     

The Assembly also approved N7 billion for the state government to service internal debts, N250 million for external debts, bond N6.240 billion, services for local banks charges N300 million while guaranteed loans stands at N300 million.                                  
On his part, Ahmed, while presenting the budget to the Assembly tagged: “Sustained Prosperity”, which represented a 10 per cent increase over last year’s projection of N85.1 billion, said apart from this, “It is also aimed at reducing the state’s dependence on federally-allocated revenue and attract foreign and domestic investments into the state.”
He stressed that the budget was designed to boost infrastructure, accelerate agro-led wealth creation, create jobs and sustain the state’s development.

Ahmed said: “Our resources may be limited but our resolve to overcome these challenges and provide good governance for the benefit of the people is boundless.”
A breakdown of the budget shows a total recurrent revenue of N58.1 billion, while recurrent expenditure was put at N51 billion.
The total recurrent surplus stood at N6.3 billion, while total capital receipt was estimated at N42.6 billion with total capital expenditure also pegged at N42.6 billion.

Reflecting on last year’s budget performance, the governor said the significant progress made was in road development, health, energy, education and water supply, despite the limitations imposed by the realities of the national economy.
Receiving the budget proposal from the governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Abdulrasaq Atunwa, promised that the Assembly would give urgent attention to the budget for quick deliberations and approval in order to assist the governor implement the budget effectively.
Presenting the state’s budget to the Assembly, Governor Babangida Aliyu, said the budget was a slight increase of N300 million as against the N83, 79 billion in the outgoing year.

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Alhaji Usman Magaji, told the Assembly that the committee increased the budget by N300 million to cater for certain exigencies.

The Speaker, Hon. Adamu Usman, said the early passage of the budget would earn the assembly the confidence of the people.
“We want the people of Niger to have confidence in Niger Assembly. We want them to count on our leadership and we want to prove to them that 2013 budget is a budget of reality. Earnestly, since 1999, this the first time the budget is being passed before the succeeding year as we suspended everything else, to achieve this for the very first time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ochei, while fielding questions from journalists in Asaba, said out of the 12 bills passed, seven were assented to by the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, while five were still pending.

According to him, the Delta State’s Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Terrorism Bill 2012, is among the bills awaiting the governor’s assent.
“In the same vein, we have 10 bills still pending before the House, seven of such bills are at the committee’s stage, while three are ready for second reading,” he added.
Ochei explained that the members were spurred by the overriding need to protect their people’s interest in the course of discharging their legislative responsibilities.

He said the Assembly received and treated many petitions from aggrieved individuals over infringement on their rights.
“We shall always do this because the mandate given to us confers on us a responsibility,” he said.
Ochei said the Assembly embarked on oversight functions on projects being executed by MDAs as approved in the budget.
According to him, the standing committees inspected projects across the state and identified lapses so that the people of the state can have value for the money allocated to projects.

He, therefore, assured the people that the Assembly would continue to facilitate the delivery of good governance in the state.
Ochei commended the media for their detailed coverage, reportage and incisive comments on the activities of the fifth Assembly since its inauguration.

ThisDay

Court: 'Irresistible' Workers Can Be Fired

By Alyssa Newcomb

• 
  ABC News - Court: 'Irresistible' Workers Can Be Fired (ABC News)

An Iowa dentist was within his legal rights when he fired a longtime employee he found to be "irresistible" and a threat to his marriage, the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled.
The seven justices, all male, affirmed on Friday a lower court's decision in favor of Dr. James Knight, who terminated Melissa Nelson after employing her for 10 and a half years as a dental assistant.
"We do think the Iowa Supreme Court got it completely right," said Stuart Cochrane, an attorney for James Knight. "Our position has always been Mrs. Nelson was never terminated because of her gender, she was terminated because of concerns her behavior was not appropriate in the workplace. She's an attractive lady. Dr. Knight found her behavior and dress to be inappropriate."
The two never had a sexual relationship or sought one, according to court documents, however in the final year and a half of Nelson's employment, Knight began to make comments about her clothing being too tight or distracting.
"Dr. Knight acknowledges he once told Nelson that if she saw his pants bulging, she would know her clothing was too revealing," the justices wrote.
Six months before Nelson was fired, she and her boss began exchanging text messages about work and personal matters, such as updates about each of their children's activities, the justices wrote.
The messages were mostly mundane, but Nelson recalled one text she received from her boss asking "how often she experienced an orgasm."
Nelson did not respond to the text and never indicated that she was uncomfortable with Knight's question, according to court documents.
Soon after, Knight's wife, Jeanne, who also works at the practice, found out about the text messaging and ordered her husband to fire Nelson.
The couple consulted with a senior pastor at their church and he agreed that Nelson should be terminated in order to protect their marriage, Cochrane said.
On Jan. 4, 2010, Nelson was summoned to a meeting with Knight while a pastor was present. Knight then read from a prepared statement telling Nelson she was fired.
"Dr. Knight felt like for the best interest of his marriage and the best interest of hers to end their employment relationship," Cochrane said.
Knight acknowledged in court documents that Nelson was good at her job and she, in turn, said she was generally treated with respect.
When Nelson's husband tried to reason with Knight, the dentist told him he "feared he would have an affair with her down the road if he did not fire her."
Paige Fiedler, Nelson's attorney, said in a statement to ABC News affiliate KCRG that she was "appalled" by the ruling.
"We are appalled by the Court's ruling and its failure to understand the nature of gender bias.," she wrote.
"Although people act for a variety of reasons, it is very common for women to be targeted for discrimination because of their sexual attractiveness or supposed lack of sexual attractiveness. That is discrimination based on sex," Fiedler wrote. "Nearly every woman in Iowa understands this because we have experienced it for ourselves."
ABCNews