The replacement of Are Feyisetan as head coach and the selection of Abuja for a training camp instead of Lagos reportedly upset athletes, while a further complaint was the supposed exclusion of junior lifters.

According to Punch, technical director Joy Mayaki was locked inside a gym during a protest against the Nigeria Para-Powerlifting Federation.

She was only let out when Feyisetan asked athletes to release her, the newspaper said.

Competition at the event begins tomorrow at Abuja International Conference Centre, and will last for three days.

It is the first World Cup of 2020 and is part of the qualification process for this year's Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Nigeria topped the powerlifting medal table at Rio 2016, winning six golds.

Paul Kehinde, who won the men's 65 kilograms title at Rio 2016 and the world title at the same weight a year later, is one of the home lifters expected to compete in Abuja.

"This is the qualifiers for the Paralympics," he told Brila.

"We believe we are going to win and conquer, and bring more gold for Nigeria.

"The more we qualify, the more gold we could have."

The World Cup is being hosted by the First Lady of Nigeria Aisha Buhari, who is married to President Muhammadu Buhari.

She has already unveiled Nigeria's team kit and expressed satisfaction about the preparations.

World Para Powerlifting announced in December that the 2020 World Cup calendar would span across four continents for the first time.

After Abuja, World Cups will be held in Manchester, Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, Bogota and Dubai.